


A Grand Adventure

by Byzantine_Stories



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Highschool DxD (Anime)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Byzantine_Stories/pseuds/Byzantine_Stories
Summary: You know, I just wanted a drink, but an adventure in a new world could be interesting, right? SI/OC Rated M for language, violence, some gore and perhaps future non-explicit sexual content.
Kudos: 10





	1. The Beginning

Well, that was a rather a lame way to die; to get hit by a car on the way to the local pub. Sigh well, there was to no point in contemplating on my supposed death as their some slight problems that should be addressed. Since I'm dead and now in an endless cold void with no source of entertainment to stave boredom, or frankly any materials needed do something productive I can't really do much.

You know what, I wish I had another chance to do something with my life like go on an adventure or do something more exciting than studying for school. Since that wish is obviously never going to happen I may as well think about life's mysterious such as I don't know ughh like maybe figuring out how to reverse entropy or something.

He continued monologuing to himself the wish he did not believe that will ever happen was sent through Akashic Records to an unknown location.

"Saber destroy the Grail!" Shirou yelled to the victorious blue knight.

Complying with her master's wishes, the blue knight activated her noble phantasm and proceeded to bring about the end to the cursed grail, but before the grail could be vaporized by the sword of promised victory it heard a wish.

The grail did not care where it came from nor of its contents as it was created by the three founding families in a quest to recover the third true magic Heaven's Feel by whatever means necessary, but whatever the case a wish has been uttered a wish must be granted.

Deep within the grail, another force was at work. During the third holy grail, an anomaly appeared in the form of the Avenger class. The avenger was weak and was quickly dealt with by the other contestants, but unlike other heroic spirits, he was able to linger within the lone avenger's name was Angra Mainyu.  
At the moment Angra Mainyu the supposed bearer of all the world's evils was laughing not at impending death but at what he could do to manipulate such an open-ended wish "I wish I had another chance to do something with my life like go on an adventure or do something" such a wish in of itself is quite boring in that resurrecting yourself and continuing your own life has no flavor no challenge just a boring continuation of his otherwise insignificant life. Yes, he will manipulate the wish and cause as much pain and misery possible while having some possible entertainment once he returned back to the Throne of Heroes.

"Another chance" done, he will resurrect the fool and place him in a different reality and new container that will allow him to have his adventure, but every good adventure has a villain. Yes, a villain will be perfect for the little excursion. Said villain needs to be powerful yet be able to be defeated in a way that is feasible for said adventure hmm.

A few milliseconds before the laser of salvation could hit the grail, the grail was able to access Akasha and give for a moment Angra Mainyu, who was inside the grail, knowledge of all possible villains and anti-heroes ever recorded within the root. Yes, my soon to be little adventurer, no hero you will face Beast One. "HA HA HA HA" Angra Mainyu laughed euphorically, yes Yes YES he could feel the potential death, destruction, rape, famine that could happen if the idiot fails.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down Angra Mainyu smiled one last time, "Rejoice, Nicholas, your wish will finally come true."

At less than one micrometer away Excalibur was about to rid of the corrupted grail, but suddenly a black disgusting energy surrounded the grail and absorbed the energy that was being sent to it.

Shocked at the apparent resistance from the grail Saber quickly formulated a plan to break through the shield "Shirou use your other command seal now; Excalibur is having trouble piecing that foul energy!" Saber yelled as she concentrated on keeping up Excalibur's Energy Output.

Shirou nodded his head in acknowledgment and replied: "Saber by my final command seal I order you to destroy that grail."  
The power output of Excalibur rose from rank A++ to rank A+++ but even then the energy surrounding the grail refused to budge. Just as the Servant Master duo was about to call off the attack in hopes of finding another way to destroy it.

Suddenly the black energy that surrounded the grail shot into the atmosphere in a brilliant ray of light. What was left of the grail started to degrade and fade away like a projection out of mana as the wish it granted destroyed it due to the scale of such a wish.

"Saber the grail is gone? Do you know what happened to it?" Shirou asked as it was clear that Excalibur did not destroy the grail.

Looking at the spot where the grail once lay, Saber nodded and responded "No Shirou, but it doesn't matter anymore as we have fulfilled our duty." "But what that weird black energy"

Shirou quickly replied. "I do not know Shirou, perhaps Rin knows about it."Shirou paused and looked to the sky to where the energy disappeared to and quietly said" Perhaps."  
Sighing in relief the duo began the trek back to the Emiya residence where they will regroup with Tohsaka to find out what exactly caused the phenomenon


	2. The Setup

Yes! I finally found a way to reverse entropy first you, wait wait wait a minute why the fuck is it suddenly bright in this godforsaken void of nothingness? I'm just gonna ignore it as it probably just my eyes playing tricks on me. Yeah that's right just a trick of the light just close my eyes and it will go away….and why does it feel like I'm falling now.

Opening my eyes, I realize that I'm falling through a bright never-ending tunnel just falling. Sigh is this the part of death where I'm sent to heaven or hell, or maybe reincarnated into an animal. Meh, whatever the case I hope whoever runs this show speeds up the process as falling for eternity is worse than sitting in a black void for an eternity.

After what felt like a day or two of free-falling the blinding light began to subside allowing me to finally get a good look at the situation I am in. Looking around I noticed a few changes such as one, I'm no longer wearing the clothes I wore when I died. I previously wore the plain old jeans and t-shirt combo with some black sneakers, but now I am wearing a white sirwal, brown sandals and a white cloak that had a rather plain-looking white hood on it.

Besides the changes in apparel, I realized that my body to be in slightly better shape and that I am tanner than I previously was. Sweet I finally have a more muscular body and a better tan and all it took was dying, sitting in a void and falling in a hole to get it.  
Though there was a slight problem now my limbs are a lot shorter and my voice was cracking which is quite embarrassing in that I really disliked my old squeaky voice. I scowled in annoyance at the idea of reliving my adolescence and going through puberty again will be a pain in the ass. In any case, right now I feel like punching whoever turned me into a minor. Sigh well let's think of the positives of being transformed into a 12-year-old. Since I should I weigh less due to my reduced stature my overall decent should slow down a bit as my terminal velocity should decrease. Plus children can get away with things to a certain extent although that perk is a bit null due to the fact I'm still falling down a seemingly endless hole.

A few hours of continuous free fall, I began to sense a change in the atmosphere as the air around me was slowly getting warmer and dryer. Taking a quick look down I see not the endless tunnel I was so used to seeing but the end of that godforsaken hole. As I fell past the entrance of the abyss I was not amused at what I saw.

The ground, the ground, the ground...ugh this could pose a slight problem...who am I kidding I'm going to die again as soon I hit the ground. Well, it was nice being alive for around 10 seconds.  
As the ground became closer I closed my eyes waiting for the inevitable until I felt unimaginable pain as if my entire was on fire yet I felt stronger, more awake, and even more aware of my surroundings. I slowly opened only to see black haze surrounding my body and that collision with the ground was imminent. On instinct, my body braced for impact.

When the collision happened there seemed to be a brief pause, a serene stillness but as quickly as the pause came it quickly dissipated and was violently replaced by an explosion followed by a shockwave that could be felt over a mile away.  
For a few minutes, I laid there thinking how did I survive that fall, that black energy definitely had to do with it. It was strange when I surrounded me I felt like I was dying yet at the same it gave the power to survive. Hmm, whatever the case I should figure out what do now.  
I slowly pick myself up and started to climb my way out of the sandy crater. A few fails later I was able to finally able get myself out of the crater. I took a quick look out of the crater I just came out of. It around 20 meters in diameter and around 3 meters deep it had a rocky yet sandy composition.  
I watched as the crater slowly began to disappear under the sand a grim reminder that I landed of all places in the middle of a damn desert. I turned my back against the setting sun, and started walking east with no plan whatsoever because I am bound to run into something right?  
A few steps into my new journey the desert wind began to calm till an eerie lifeless silence overtook the desert till a simple sentence was uttered "Rejoice, Nicholas Lozano your wish will finally come true."  
I stood still and wide-eyed as I realized what happened until I had only one thing left to say "Oh Shit".

**POV switch Beast One**

Meanwhile, in place beyond time and reality, a beast observed the current state of the multiverse as he carefully enacted his plans one by one by planting his seeds of destruction in certain moments of each timeline.

I just need a bit more energy and time before the filth that stains earth can be eradicated.

Walking towards my magnificent throne of gold and stone I received a revelation. This surprised me as I currently did not have such a skill in this body I currently inhabit, but it does not matter as with this new knowledge I can and will exploit a new opportunity that was just created.  
A world still in the age of gods is perfect to place grail due to the abundance of mana in such a world.

Taking a seat on my throne, I ponder who should I give a grail to. Using my clairvoyance I look for the perfect candidate to wield my grail until I stumble upon a certain goddess.

Standing up, I begin to calculate how long how much longer till I can enact my plan. Based on the amount of energy gathered so far I estimate it will take five years before everything is set.

While walking back towards the gardens I reactivated my clairvoyance to Peer into the future as of right now my victory is most defiantly assured as 99 out of 100 futures end with my goals as even now the future is still split for whatever reason as that one future that leads to my destruction is still there. Steps will have to be taken to mitigate the chances of such outcomes happening such as sending one my demon gods to infiltrate the budding Chaldea program. In any case, the next 5 years will determine the fate of the universe.


	3. The Desert

"Rejoice, Nicholas Lozano, your wish will finally come true." I replayed those words over and over again in my head, trying to grasp the magnitude of the situation that I got myself into. Heck, I'm not sure what wish was even granted. During my tenure in the void, I made several wishes such as "I wish for some entertainment" or "I wished I had a brisket sandwich". Hmm, maybe the wish that was granted was the one I made during my free fall into the abyss "I wish I would stop falling." That wish, in particular, would explain why I stopped falling though it does not explain how I was deaged to my preteen self nor how I was resurrected.

Well, I will have to put that train of thought on hold as it is time to go. Traveling at night will allow me to travel without the risk of heat stroke and sunburns. Sweating should decrease which allows me to conserve whatever fluids I have left. Though the last problems I currently have to deal with is my lack water, food, and lack of knowledge of my current location relative to the world. With the landscape as barren as it is the chances of me finding water and food are slim to none. Overall I give myself two days to survive due to the climate as well as the fact that I have to walk everywhere which increases fluid loss.

In regards to my current location, the simple answer is I don't know. The environment is a sandy desert with little to no vegetations which that doesn't really help me as I could be in the Great Sandy Desert of Australia, the Arabian Desert or god forbid the fucking Sahara Desert. So without further ado, I'll head east as that seems to be as good of a plan I can come up with, but let's think of the bright side I get to enjoy a relaxing stroll and plus my mom always told me to go outside more often.

**6 hours later...**

You know it's almost sunrise , and you think there would be more interesting in this desert than fucking sand. They said go out enjoy nature, it would be good for you health they said, whatever, hours into this journey I already hate it. There is sand on my sandals, sand in the air, sand over the dune, just sand everywhere. No wonder Anakin Skywalker hated sand, it's coarse, rough and really does gets everywhere.

Just breath in and breath out, breath in and out, breath in and out. Okay, I think I calmed down a bit. I'm just going to keep walking till I get too tired and rest or till I hit some form of civilization. As soon as I am out here I can long a long relaxing shower. Walking up the nearby dune, I looked around from my vantage point for any sign of civilization, only too greeted by the sight of more sandy dunes and the random dead bush here and there. Sigh the only way I'll get anywhere is to just keep walking, so with renewed vigor, I continued to head east in search of salvation.

**14 hours later…**

I think overestimated my ability to survive. I originally factored in that I would be able to find some form of shelter from the blazing heat and that my preteen body could as well as my adult body, but it seems like assumptions about my new body were wrong as we as fact there is nothing else besides sand in this desert and the occasional dead brush. Which forced me to continue traveling even though my knees buckling and dehydration began to take effect on my body…..the cramps are beginning to make moving harder and everything is getting spotty, but I just need to keep moving….every step I take is a step towards to my survival. If I stop now I will die of dehydration eventually.

Climbing the small dune, I collapsed on myself I tried to pick myself but to no avail. I looked up and I noticed that the sun was beginning to set again.

I finally realized that my body won't respond to my mental commands. I just need some rest. That's what I kept repeating to myself. To the trick myself into believing that I will wake up and I will continue my journey, but deep in the back of my head I knew that my chances of survival are slim and that this where I could die a second time. Laying there, I slowly fell asleep as the pain that has been plaguing slowly began to numb.

**POV switch Shamash**

A little over a day ago, I sensed an anomaly appear in the middle of the Arabian desert. Normally when a magical entity enters our territory we usually just observe them or if they were being particularly troublesome we usually just vaporize them. Which seems perfectly reasonable in my opinion, I mean the only reason anyone comes the our part of the fertile crescent anymore is steal resources, look at our ruins or try finding Gilgamesh's famous Gate of Babylon which everyone should know by know that he took most of his treasures with him to the grave as the keys to Gates of Babylon were connected to his soul which meant even if you could attain one of the keys you did not have the prerequisite to use and plus the physical storehouse that holds his treasures has been hidden so well by him that even I the god of the sun, who can see all that the sun touches could not find it.

In any case when I when first started monitoring him I expected him to be a mage of some kind, but instead, it turned out to be a little boy. At this point, I would usually get back to little pet project I am currently working, but what kept me interested the boy was the faint magical aura he gave off. If you focused closely on aura you can sense a fairly large reservoir of magical energy locked up within him. That right there would make him a perfect candidate for an apprenticeship in the mystic arts or as a bishop in a devil's peerage.

After watching him for a for about a day until he collapsed in the sand. I can say was mildly impressed at his endurance and willpower to survive the blazing heat of the desert, which is currently around 50 degrees Celsius, without magic or supplies. But willpower alone will not be enough at the rate thing where progressing he is very likely to not last the night.

Hmm, it would be a shame if he were left to die, besides he was somewhat interesting and I believe I could extract a few favors from him, but either way intervening could be dangerous for the kid as it might draw unwanted attention plus my fellow Sumerian gods might take interest in the boy. Some of them might just want to kill him for trespassing other might force him to become a servant in which case neither outcome is unacceptable.

So how do I not give away my location as soon as intervene? Hmmm, I could ...no that will not about there is no way I could truly conceal 100% of my presence. Hmmm, so the best way for him to survive is if he becomes strong enough to potentially fight off minor demons. I think the best way to achieve this is to jumpstart his magic and give him some supplies to survive the Desert.

With all the details sorted out, I believe I should get going before the brat dies of organ failure.

In a brilliant flash of light, the entire observatory was illuminated in a golden light. As the light began to fade away any traces of the previous occupant of the observatory began to disappear as well.

In the middle of the night, a small flicker of light signaled the entrance of the sun god. Well, I hope he still alive as I really don't want to come out here for nothing.

Shamah began to approach the dune where the boy was currently slumbering.

Hmm well, he could be in worse shape. The kid was a bit pale, his breathing is beginning to slow and running a 39-degree Celsius fever. Well, time to get to work. First thing first is to stabilize him and get him back on his feet which should be the easiest part of this operation as besides being a sun god I'm also a god of salvation, justice, divination, and law.

Using my healing spell on the kid did the trick as he began to gain some color, his breathing has stabilized and his fever has subsided. Now for the tricky part. Unlocking the kid's magic, personally I'm not that well versed in the archaic arts sure I can do healing magic and divinations quite well ,but thing is, I never really tried to expand my repertoire beyond that plus I'm personally more of a chariot type of guy who rather fights up close and personal or using hit and run tactics, but hey i'm already here and I don't really want someone like Ishtar to fine me out here, so I should better hurry up before the other notice I'm not there anymore.

Well, let's see what I can do. I put hand my on his chest and began to focus on the source of his magical signature to see what is stopping from using magic. Hmm after a few minutes I conclude a few things from my observation one this kid has a magic core with can be described as a pseudo nervous system that is connected to said core. The cause of this blockade best is described as a black thick energy that has strange properties such as it feels divine yet not at the same time.

Either way in order for the boy to use magic those pathways would have to be cleared. Hmmm now, how do I unclog those pathways? Well I could use raw power to overcome it, but that comes with the risk of being discovered by my acquaintances and that I could potentially fry his insides.

Well as the kids say these days time to 'yolo' it. I slowly inserted my energy into his system to see if it would be enough, but it failed to even put a dent in it. Well time to up energy output, I slowly but steadily increased the amount of energy being used against the clog till it got point where the core was beginning to strain.

Well, this is not working, that tainted energy will not move an inch. Well, time for plan B, a wise man once sense if "brute force is not working, then your not using enough of it", so I will up the energy output and will try to heal as much of damage this could possibly cause at the same time.

The core was beginning to swell up like an overinflated balloon ready to pop which was beginning to worry me as my healing spells can only keep them from exploding for so long. Just as the situation looked hopeless for the kid, the dark energy began to give way allowing the excess mana in the core to spread out through the hole body.

Well, that was the most tiring thing I ever did in my 4-millennium life. The only thing I ever was done that was more tiring being part of the cleanup crew during the Enkidu fiasco.

Taking a quick glance at the kid, the kid seemed to be about as strong as the average pawn in Devil's evil piece system, but his potential seemed to be much higher than that. Now to address three things in order to call this little field trip a success. First I got write a note for the kid and place with his supplies I'll be giving him. The second thing sneaking back in the palace without being caught which should be easy as the other gods should be feasting right now. Thirdly to come up with a very good excuse just in case I get caught that is able to explain why I helped the kid out, potentially gave him a low amount of divinity that is equivalent of being a great-grandson of a god, and why I broke the inference rule made after the Enkidu debacle.

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure I can talk way out anything, so I got this plus it's not like Anu will give a harsh punishment or anything as he's been far too lax these days. Now for the kid's supplies, I quickly teleported some supplies to help the kid out . The last thing do while here, I got a piece of notebook paper scribbled together my message for the kid that outlined my intentions, who I am, and few tips on how to get out of the Desert without getting killed by the environment or the edimmu who lurk in certain areas of the Desert.

After leaving the note with the kid, I was able to get to my room without being spotted. Sighing in relief I was about to get some rest when I heard a knock at the from my comfy bed I went to open the door to what this person wants right now I mean It already past midnight.

Opening the door I was surprised at who I saw, "Anu what are you doing here"

"Well, Shamash I noticed you were not at dinner, so what were you doing while we were eating,"Anu asked sternly.

I quickly replied "Well I was at Observatory, monitoring the land for any signs of intruders"

Anu continued to look at me with cold eyes and quietly whispered: " I would believe you if I did not know you are lying to me Shamash."

Ouhh shit he knows, Sweat began to form as I tried to come up with a valid excuse. "Well, I-"

"Save your excuses Shamash" walking out of the room Anu added on "we will continue this talk later this week, and it better be the truth or I will send you to work in the underworld for the next 10 millennia."

After few minutes of just standing in silence, I quickly got my wits together and slowly shut the door.I then paced around the room trying to come up with a solution for my predicament. Well, whatever I'm going to say to Anu better be convincing or I and the kid are toast.


	4. Exploring Uruk

Well, that was a nice that nap, I feel like I could run a marathon, win the long jump, and parachute out of an airplane all on the same day. Taking a quick minute to bask in my rejuvenated strength, I looked around to see if there is any sign of a way out of this damn desert until I noticed the most peculiar yet beautiful sight in my time in the desert. A brown sack, that could be filled with food, water, and other necessities like a map.

I rushed over to the sack to see what inside, and what came out was a few metal flask, some nonperishable foods, a lighter and little blue sticky note with some writing on it. I picked the sticky note to see the contents of it.

If you are reading this, then congratulation you have been saved by me, Shamash god of the sun, salvation and a few other things. Now you may be wondering why have you been saved by such a gracious god like myself: well, to be honest, it was a combination of a whim, your potential and most importantly to get a few favors from you that I will cash in the future. The second thing you must off noticed is this increase in energy and awareness. Well, that was because I unlocked your ability to use magic. Now I gotta make this short as I'm almost out of time but I suggest you head 30KMs north which gets you to the ruined city of Uruk, then camp there for the night. Afterward, follow the Euphrates river to An Najaf.

Best Wishes, Shamash your friendly sun god

I just stared at the piece of paper flabbergasted at what this could potentially imply.I began endlessly reread the note to make sure I fully understand what this implies to me, my plans, my future and potentially if I'm even in my own universe or not.

From my understanding of the note the person who gave me these supplies claimed himself to be a sun god of all things. The next thing that this person wrote that he saved me and gave me supplies on what is essentially a tit for tat type of deal in which he wants something from in the future in exchange for healing me and helping me out. The next he tells me magic is real, I mean that claim seems ludicrous and just because I feel a lot better than yesterday doesn't mean I suddenly have magic powers that allow me to use fire and lightning spells like in Skyrim.

Assuming that he is telling the truth though, that leaves open a lot of possibilities such as I'm currently in my world and magic and gods are real but is just super well hidden or I'm in another universe altogether which allows for a system of magic to place such Harry Potter or The Percy Jackson series. Until I can see first hand use of magic I will have to be skeptical of that claim.

Now with regards to his advice to travel up north to Uruk then to An Najaf. It seems to be a solid plan plus it confirms that is in Iraq or in whatever state that controls this region of the world.

I guess this is enough speculating for now because if I don't get going I might not be able to reach the ruins before sunset. I quickly put my supplies and the note back into the sack and started walking north to get to the city of Uruk before sunset.

**10 Hours later…**

Well, what you know the desert is not half as bad I first thought. Once you get out of that sea of sand the terrain becomes rocky, so I'm overall less tired than if I continued to walk through the sand with sandals. Besides that, the biodiversity is quite a bit more interesting from the occasional small rodent that scurried in the brushes to the hawks overhead which is infinitely more interesting than dead grass that I was so used to seeing.

Besides the more pleasant scenery, I am a bit excited to go see Uruk. Sure it was basically a bunch of abandoned ruins, but the history and legends that surrounded the near-mythical city are quite interesting especially if you look into Uruk's early struggles for dominance in the region. A fascinating part of its history though was its first dynasty that ruled Uruk. The first dynasty includes mythical figures such as Lugalbanda who said to rule Uruk for over 1000 years, but more importantly, Gilgamesh, the hero demigod-king who tale is told in history first great peace literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Although his appearance in the media ranges from wonky sword collector in Final Fantasy to the Arrogant king seen in Fate series, his other appearance makes up for it in my opinion such as Caster Gilgamesh in Fate/GO.

As I was about to make another comment about Gilgamesh, the ruins of Uruk came into view, and I was surprised at what I saw. While the city was indeed in ruins with the walls that once surrounded Uruk, now a pile of rubble and the painting that once decorated the building have since long be worn away, the city was surprisingly mostly intact with most the structures only having minor damage and the road that connected the important parts of the city seem to be in great shape.

One thing that I'm now certain though is I'm definitely on my world anymore because if I remember from a school project about Sumeria I did in high school, Uruk should mostly be made up of what left of the foundation and some short walls here there.

In any case, as I entered the city I began to survey for a good location for a camp. Ideally, I want it to be in a relatively high location just in case an animal tries to mess with me and because I would like to stargaze for a bit as it been a hobby of mine since I was a kid.

As I was walking down the main causeway, I spotted what seemed to be the biggest building in the area. It was a relatively tall ziggurat that had a pathway that led to the top of this gigantic structure and it would seem like the best place to set up my campsite. As I climbed up the stairway my senses began to tingle like there was something a bit more to the ziggurat that what it seems, but I quickly ignored, chalking up as just my nerves as when I was a kid I had a massive fear of height.

When I finally reached the top, I looked around to view the city and I was not disappointed at what I saw. The building was organized into a grid-like system yet even if it a bland yet efficient way of organizing a city it did not take away from the overall majesty of the sight. From the sand-colored building to large Ziggurats, the city of Uruk must have been amazing at its height.

Being up here, with a view of a king, imagining the city at its height, I could better understand the difficulties of managing city let alone a kingdom. From up here, the king does not see the individual he sees the markets, the barracks, the trade convoys, and these are only part of the intricate web of interactions that form a society. When deciding policy the king of this land looks out for the kingdom and himself, not the individual, as an individual is only a mere cog in the machines that was the kingdom. A truly perfect king may be able to manage the balance between liberty and command ,but it seems like a perfect balance will never be found as people will always dissent at the current establishment in private such as the case of Arturia in that while she was deemed perfect she was flawed in that she could never truly understand her led to her downfall because her subject resented her inability to truly connect with her subjects. I digress though, democracy would have been hard to create during the golden age of Uruk because one, educating a populace which essential to a democracy, takes time and money that could have been used elsewhere plus the inherent disunity in the time period where rival city-states often vied for power within the region made it a bad place to try out new ideas.

Well, that was enough philosophy for a day. Sigh, well I better explore the top level of the ziggurat to familiarize with it layout just in case something happens. Entering the palace complex I began to go through each room to see if there was anything inside or a backup exit that I could potentially use to escape through. After going through most of the rooms, I concluded that there was only one exist which was through the main door and that whatever items that were in do rooms have been taken by looter or scavenged by an archaeologist. Hmmm, well if that's the case then I'll just go to last room I have not explored yet.

Now the reason why I did not explore this last room yet is that its the room farthest away from the entrance and that it was probably the most important room in this complex because it seems like the biggest, and everyone know that the biggest room is usually reserved for very important people such as priests, kings, queens and I entered the room I quickly noticed that the room was as barren as the previous room but with exception of it having a stone grey throne in the center of the large room.

Well, that was a disappointment, there seems to be nothing in these rooms except dust. Sigh, whatever its past sunset and I'm starving, if there's one thing that I found that was useful was a nice place to sit. Taking a seat on the throne was quite uncomfortable, after all, it was made out of stone, I opened up my sack and took out my canteen for a quick drink of water. After I finished drinking all of the water out of my first canteen, I took out some of the dried meat and quickly consumed a handful of it.

Huh well, that was actually quite filling, I expected it to be like beef jerky but it actually tasted a lot better than beef jerky, it was sweet, yet spicy but it was literally like eating a fresh steak, in that it melted right in my mouth like a freshly cooked medium-well steak.

Well then let's see what I have left. I have three canteens of water, and four baggies of that divine jerky left to spare which should at least last me long enough to get An Najaf or one of the surrounding towns.

*yawn* well I guess I should hit the hay, as tomorrow is going to be a long day of walking. As I about to lay my head on stone shoulder rest, I heard a mechanical clicking noise which is strange, as I am 100% sure the inhabitants of Uruk did not have clocks or anything mechanical.

After around 5 minutes of that inane ticking, I began to look around the room from my position on the throne, in search of that infernal noise. Just I was about to get up and actively look around for that noise, it stopped. Finally, I can go back to sleep in peace.

Just as I was about to get some shut-eye, the ticking began again but something different happened. something underneath moved, and next, you know I'm falling for the 2nd time within 3 days.

Oh, come onnnnn! OOF ughh…...At Least the fall was for only a few seconds this time instead of an eternity like last time that happened. I picked myself off the floor to check for some injuries only to find a few bruises and cuts which was a miracle in itself in that, from the height I fell from I should have at least a few broken bones. Well with the injury report out of the way, let's see what I got myself into this time, I looked around the pit and I noticed that there were two directions I could travel in, right or left.

Hmm, well let's see ughh well, how about I take the path to the right, after all, it is the right path, and nothing ever could go wrong since I'm taking the right path.

**3 hour later…**

Yeah, I'm officially lost, when I first started my walk I thought it would be simple. Just go down a few corridors and walk out of the exit, but no this place is apparently a damn maze. I do not how many times I walked in circles or backtracked but at this rate, i'll most likely die down here lost in a stupid know what I'm blaming the world for all my problems. It seems like this world is out to get me, first by dropping in the middle of a desert and now the world decides to drop me into a maze.

"You know what I can play this game too" I yelled " next time I go to the park, I will not pick up the trash, and I won't turn off the air that mother nature, take that HA HA HA." Breathe in, Breathe out, Breathe in Breathe out, just calm keep calm Nick, no need to lose your head right now, just keep calm. After saying that mantra to myself a few times I was able to calm down a bit. Now let's just review the situation I'm in. I'm in a maze that's in a ziggurat which means each time go down a staircase the area of the maze should increase, and since I did not see any entrances or doors on the side of the ziggurat I can assume two things. That in order to escape this maze I would need to find a secret entrance or I would need to complete this maze. In either case, my time limited from the ever-present risk of running out of supplies and the amount of oil left in this lighter.

Well, I need to keep a move on then as standing here and contemplating my situation is not going to improve my situation in any way, shape or form. With all that in mine though I face a choice I could go down the staircase to my right or I could go left and continue to search for an exit on this floor. Hmm, I guess I'll take the staircase even though it's more of a risk that I could get lost, it's more likely I'll be able to find exit down there than up here wandering around for the few hours.

**15 minutes later...**

You know this staircase is quite a bit longer than the previous staircases I walked through. I turned around to see how far I descended, and I was surprised in that I want to see where I originally came from. Sure it's quite dark down here, but with my lighter and when I really focus on a certain location long enough I was able to see just fine. Now though no matter how hard I tried to focus my eyes I could not see the entrance of this staircase. Sigh, I'm already down here, I might as well keep walking till the staircase ends.

After another 15 minutes of continuous walking, the staircase ended at a closed wooden door. Finally, that god damn staircase has ended, but now let's hope the door is locked or I'm going to kick that damn door down.

I pulled on the door handle and surprisingly the door opened without resistance. I walked through the door and was immediately relieved in that this was not another godforsaken maze. Though a bit confused in that their assorted torches throughout the cavern. I mean those torches should've burned by now if they were lit over 4 millennia ago unless someone has been here recently and took the time to plant those torches. Whatever the case is, something is down here and I should be on high alert as I already had enough surprises to last me a lifetime.

I as I began to walk through the hallways of this underground complex I began to notice that changes in the air as I got closer to the next room. When I entered the room I noticed immediately that is was different from any other room I have been, during my stay in Uruk. The room for one was well decorated in that the paintings have not faded, the intricate motifs that line the walls were well preserved, heck the ceiling of this room was a giant portrait of the night sky. The most jarring thing though we're the many treasures that littered the floor that ranged from simple gold bars to beautiful Jewels, and 4 giant golden coffins that were decorated with many patterns, images of bulls, the sun and the moon.

Well…..this is really the best thing that happened so far today...so may treasure to go through…..but I gotta find an exit out of this place first….though I'm sure I can take a few coins here and there as with this I could jump-start a new life in this world. I grabbed a handful of coins and gems and placed them in my sack.

Just I was about to leave the room, the room began to shake as the four coffins opened up and spewed out hulking metal suits of armor which proceeded to block the 2 exists.

Well fuck me, I'm surrounded and unarmed. I took a quick look at the suits of armor that blocked my path safety. Each one seems identical in that they wore golden plates, had a single blue stripe that ran from the pauldrons to the gauntlets, had beady red eyes that were visible when you looked directly at their visors and that they carried what seemed to be golden greatswords.

Just I finished my quick analysis, one the metal behemoths that were in front me, charged at me like a speeding truck. I stood frozen as I saw my entire first life flash before my eyes. Just as the blade was about to meet its mark.

A single thought raced through my mind. I want to live...I want to live...I want to live. That single order was quickly relayed to the brain, then to the core. The core immediately came to life and quickly began to spread a vast amount of mana throughout the body.

As this was happening, the blade came ever closer to bisecting me, but then a sudden urge to dodge overcame me. I was able to duck beneath blade and roll in between the legs of the brute. Then I tried to counter him with a simple leg sweep, but the metal monstrosity was able to detect it and quickly jumped back to its original position.

A brief break in the action allowed to get my thoughts together. Holy shit, how was I able to dodge that strike. Then I remembered something that seemed ridiculous a few hours ago, now made perfect sense now,' I unlocked your ability to use magic' that mean what Shamash wrote to me was also mean I was using magic similar to reinforcement from the Fate/Stay Night series.

If that's the case I might actually stand a chance against the mech. I looked around the room for a weapon until I spotted a golden longsword. I then made a dash for the swords. The same suit of armor that tried to kill me previously decided to intercept me by slashing at my legs. I jumped over the blade and lunged for the longsword. The armored nightmare then attempted to slash at my face, which I countered by moving out of range of its greatsword.

For a brief moment on the battlefield, the combatants stood still waiting for the other to make a move.

During my engagement with the robot, I noticed a few things such as it movements are stiff and that even with all that range he has of the great sword, the size of that sword is a detriment in this small room, so if I can get underneath his guard victory should be mine, but that would require me to be able to go toe to toe with that machine. Which I can not do in my current condition, but if I channel some mana to reinforce my body I should be able to rival it straight. The one downside though is I'm getting tired quickly from all this fighting so this battle will need to end soon or I will collapse from exhaustion. With that taught in my mind, I decided to go all in.

Taking the initiative, I wildly lunged at the machine in an attempt to amputate its right arm. The droid countered with a simple block, and so began a flurry of slashes and stabs in which whatever grace I had was discarded in favor of an all-out offensive in which I attempted to overpower the suit of armor with pure force and speed.

Cuts, bruises, and tears in my cloak began to appear as I began to get tired of reinforcing my body for too long. Just I was about to break off the engagement, I saw an opportunity arise in that when the robot was about to go for an overhead strike a small gap appears between the breastplate and the fauld.

Exploiting this flaw, I pressed the attack until the bot predictably went for another overhead strike. Just as the mech was going for an overhead strike, I reinforced my arms as much as I could and stabbed at that spot with all my robot was unable to react in time as was impaled on the spot. Everything stood still for a bit until the suit collapsed unto the ground due to its wires being cut in vital areas.

"Ha ha ha, take that you golden bastard" I whispered to the downed droid. I was about to celebrate until I remembered there were still 3 other suits of armor left.

"Well, shit ….eh would you guys leave me alone for I don't know… how about a few days" I asked in a polite yet begging manner.

The 3 bots quickly dismissed my plea, but it seems like fate finally smiled upon me today in that the metal suits decided to go back into the coffins instead of skewering me in my near defenseless state.

"Thank god, they left me alone," I said to myself quietly.

With the imminent danger dealt with, I did what my body wanted to do 2 minutes into the fight and I slowly made my way onto the floor. Well, at least I'll feel better after a nap.


	5. The Vault

"Well I still feel like shit" I grumbled to myself, it's been around 5 minutes since I woke and started walking again. With a sword in one hand and a bag supplies in the other, I have been constantly wary of this place since the suit of armor incident. This place could be loaded with traps and other nefarious machines; you know what, scratch that idea this place is defiantly filled with traps. I mean this place is filled to the brim with gold and other precious treasures, what moron would not have some sort of protection for all this stuff.

As I continued to travel through the complex I reached a fork in the pathways. Well, I'm not sure which path to take but I have the perfect solution for such an event. I quickly went through my brown sack and took out the gold coin that I picked from that room earlier. Hmm, how about this, heads means I'll go on the path to the right and tails means I'll take the path to the left.

I flipped the coin and watched it spin for a bit till it landed on my hand. Well, tails it is, I have to wonder though if this is the correct choice. After a bit of internal debating, I finally came to the short conclusion that the coin landed on tails so I might as well go left after all it's not like it would make much a difference whether go I right or left.

**10 minutes later…**

You, know walking through gilded halls you got to wonder who would build all this, and what this place was really made to store. Sure there were random weapons and treasures all over the place, but there has to be something more important stored here that is way more important than the average piece of gold. Well, whatever it is, it better be worth it because I came all the way down here and I'm not going to get out of here till I find it. I should be concerned for my own survival as I do have only, a limited amount of food and water, but it seems like if maybe if I can find this treasure of some sort then the entrance should be nearby like in some dungeons in , I'm really all out of ideas when it comes to searching for an exist besides exploring every single inch of this complex.

Hmmm, well if I could maybe…"HOLY SHIT" I exclaimed as a Giant zoomed over my head and exploded on the wall behind me, causing a large explosion that shook the hallway. I looked back at the explosion in awe as the sheer power that blast radiated enough energy to partially melt and deform the golden walls.

Well TFS Piccolo would recommend to "DODGE" those fireballs, but maybe if I could reinforce my body and run up ahead to destroy what shooting those fireballs, just as I was trying to formulate a plan another fireball appeared and singed part of my already torn cloak. Well how about we go with Piccolo's idea and "DODGE".

I started to move in a zigzag pattern to try to make myself harder to hit, but more fireballs were being thrown my way with each one getting closer to hitting me. Fortunately, I was able to get out of range of those fireballs, as the rain of fireballs stopped when I entered the nearest room.

Let's see where those damn fireballs game from. I reinforced my eyes to get a better look at the location were those fireballs were coming from, and I was surprised to a familiar sight.

It was a brown statue of a hand that was oozing a golden liquid with a little flame that surrounded a golden star, signaling that it was still active. Well, if I remember from Fate/GO those things are just fodder enemies. I mean my servants in the game could farm them like no tomorrow, but there a slight problem I don't have any servants with me, and I'm weaker than a servant so that means I can't really tank those fireballs.

Pacing around the room in thought, I came up with an ingenious plan. Well if I can't physically up to the hand without being turned in to burnt toast, so that means I have to destroy it with some type of ranged weapon. The problem with that is that this room is only filled with gold coins and, Maybe I could solve this the same way EMIYA does, throw swords at the target till it's gone, I mean is not like I have any other viable plan right now.

"Welp attempt number one here we go!"I exclaimed to myself. Picking up a gladius like a sword, I ran out of the room and chucked the sword using my reinforced body to get the maximum range and power.

Unfortunately, the sword went too far to the right missing the sword by a good two feet. Ughh well that was a good first attempt let's try again. This time I threw an arming sword at it, only for the sword this time to stray too far to left. Hmmm well, how about the third time is the charm right? This time I threw a Kapesh at the statue with all my might and this time the sword knocked the star out of the flame.

The statue began to fade away into golden and silver particles until it finally disappeared, leaving no trace that it ever existed. Well, I'll be damned I actually defeated a hand without using a servant. Though when I do farm I get usually would get a servant that could use it noble phantasm at turn one such as Drake with a kaleidoscope. I wonder what that hand was guarding though. It seems unusual for something like that to be here unless it guarding something. After all, this is the second time I met some type of resistance in this underground complex.

The first time I was attacked was by a metal suit that seemed to be guarding the entrance to this giant underground piggyback. That hand must be guarding something of value that might help get out of here like maybe a map, or maybe a giant bomb that let me blow a giant hole in this place.

Either way, I'm going to see what over there. I began to walk briskly walk towards the previous location of the statue until my reinforced eyes saw something of interest. It was a golden object that was quite strange in shape and form, but it radiated a sense of power that commanded everyone to look upon it. I slowly made my way to it; entering into a room that far surpassed any previous hallway or room in this complex. The room was finely decorated with golden motifs, dark reflective marble flooring, a mural across the ceiling that depicted the slaying of the Bull of Heaven, and there were three giant golden doors each one as big as 2 story house.

But despite all the decorations and skillful artistry, the unusual golden object that lay in the center of the room still had my attention. I slowly walked towards the object. When I reach the object I slowly picked up and carefully observed it for a minute a two, until the room began to shake.

"Well, what fucking situation did I get myself into this time !"I asked myself

Huuuuuuuuuugh…. Well shit, that is my cue to leave.

Putting the object in my sack I rushed to one the large golden gates to get a head start on whatever the heck made that loud noise. Whatever that thing was it is certainly way out my league plus you know, I would love to live my new life for a bit longer than a week, but with this type of shit happening every other day, I think I won't last past a week.

**15 minutes later...**

Well, I think I'm safe I mean it felt like I ran a marathon surely there is no way that thing can find me in this maze of an underground facility. Maybe that thing that made that noise was not even after me, to begin with. Yeah, that's a nice though just me finally not being screwed over.

Huuuuuuuuuugh….The wall about 100 yards to my left crumbled as a giant metal monstrosity appeared out of the newly formed hole. Sweet mother of Jesus that one big golden bull. Well, I guess it's time for plan A: which is run away as fastly and quickly as possible before I get gored by a 15-meter tall bull.

With that in mind I made a break for it and started to take random turns once in awhile to hopefully confuse the bull, but since it's definitely not some regular ole bull it may be for naught but hey it makes a feel a bit better in that I'm taking active measures against this menace.

huuuuuuuuuugh…. Just keep running Nick, just keeping running the NIck, the longer I can keep running the longer I can maybe come up with a way to get me out of this sticky situation.

BOOM! I turned my head to take a quick glance and what I saw terrified me. The bull was gaining on me and it seemed to be ignoring every object that stood in its way. Just tramping or destroying whatever laid in its 's worse was that thing didn't even look winded while I'm struggling to maintain my present speed. At the rate thing, we're going I'll give myself maybe three to four minutes before I get gored by a metal bull of all things.

In these crucial moments, I need to come up with something, but I can't really gather any information or data on the complex while running at high speeds. That does not limit my range of sight though so maybe if I reinforce my eyes a bit more I could maybe see something that could help me in this situation.

Reinforcing my eyes to its maximum capacity I spotted something of interest another golden gate that was wide open. That could be a good or bad thing. One it means at least I will not be corned by the beast but it also means that I will have to continue to run for my life. The second thing is that there may be more insane traps or guardians in there that may end up killing me or maybe a weapon that could destroy that bull. In either case, I have to live long enough to get past those gates.

Taking another glance back at the bull and noticed that the bull is only around 10 to 15 meters away from being trampled. Well, it's all or nothing either I die before I reach to gates or die trying.

I put every ounce of energy I got left into increasing my speed, but even then the bull was still gaining on me. Step by step, inch by inch, meter by meter the gates ever got closer till I finally I passed it.

Huh huh huh, I did it, I actually made it past the gate though this seems to be the end of the line, as my body feels like it's being burnt from the inside out, Huh-huh well it was a good run, but any second now I should feel the pain being gored by the bull any second now. I closed my eyes waiting for the inevitable, but the pain never came.

I opened my eyes and slowly turned around, only to see the giant bull just standing there outside of the gate until it turned around and began to walk back to wherever it came from.

The fuck, why the heck did it not kill me just now, not that I'm complaining or anything, but we just had a Tom and Jerry esque chase through this underground palace only to end with the bull just turning around. Alright then, I guess I will take a long break before doing anything.

Huh huh huh, well things can only go up from here. Afterall what can be worse than being trapped in an underground complex with things that want to kill you?

You took your time getting here mongrel.


	6. The King

Well fuck me five ways to Sunday, if the suit of armor, the mechanical bull or the hand don't do you in, it is going to be the King of Heroes of all people that are going to do you in. There has to be an award for having such terrible luck. Sigh, I really gotta stop sulking and better start thinking because if I say or do something wrong I may find myself impaled by his collection of weaponry.

I raised my head a little just to make sure I'm really dealing with the King of Heroes. You never know it could just be my imagination or maybe it could be an imposter after all the King of Heroes should be dead. I don't think there any holy grail wars in Iraq.

Golden hair, red eyes, over the top golden armor, yup I'm dealing with the real deal ,so now what should I do-

"A filthy thief of a mongrel, I should punish you with all my weapons from heaven to earth, I should scatter your remains from Elam to Scythia as a reminder to all to not to steal from the true king of this world," exclaimed the golden king.

Well shit...I have a sword and a bag of stuff that's filled with some commandeered...ouh…I really fucked up didn't I…well I'm boned. I guess if I'm going to die, I'm going to die defiantly by staring Gilgamesh right in the eyes. That should really grate on his nerves. I chuckled to myself quietly at the idea even though it's most likely go to speed up my execution, at least I could add something to my afterlife resume. Stared down an angry demigod. Yup, sounds badass enough to get a free drink at a bar. Sigh, well let get this over with.

I focused my eyes on the eyes of the king without hesitating while keeping a stone cold visage to hide my inner turmoil.

"Oh so the Mongrel has a little defiance left in him, HA HA HA to think you believe yourself equal to me by staring at my glorious form. HA HA HA I would kill you on the spot, but that would be a terrible waste of effort on my part as I would've let all my previous treasures slaughter you if I wasn't slightly interested in you"

Whew, thank god these people for some reason has some sort of vested interest in me. Though I wonder why he let me live in the first place. Well besides whatever he wants from me, if I can play my cards right Gilgamesh will either, A keep me around as some sort of pet project like Kirie, or B he may be generous enough to show me the way out. Though he seems to be in his archer form so I'm guessing the former is most likely to happen, sigh.

The king got off his throne and began to walk towards me at a relaxed pace. I stood there in silence as he came ever closer until the king was directly in front of me.

"We will speak again tomorrow, but for now follow me. As a guest in the king's household, it would be impolite of me if I do not show you to your dwelling."

I trailed behind The Golden King till we came upon a guest room. The walk through the halls of this underground palace was quite tense in that not one word was spoken between us, plus there was this feeling of agitation in the air that really kept my guard up on all times. This state of affairs continued till we reach the guest bedroom.

"Now Mongrel make yourself sparse and rest." And like that Gilgamesh walked off, leaving me there to my own thoughts.

I let out a sigh of relief when the king was out of sight. Well, I guess I should check out this room." Woah this is one fine looking room" I said to myself. A king size bed in the center of the room complemented by dark wooden furniture; at one side of the room there was a closet, and the other side led to I would presume to be a bathroom. Hmm, well I guess I'll check out the restroom now.

When I entered the restroom I was surprised at what a saw, the restroom looked like something out a 5-star hotel with its dark wood vanity with black granite table top, large tub and a separate shower are that looked big enough for five people to shower in at the same time. Now I wonder how the heck did an ancient Sumerian king get modern indoor plumbing and modern , well food for thought for another time.

I dropped off my sack and weapon on my sink and began to take a good look at myself since being dropped off in the middle of the desert I wondered what I truly looked like since being swapped into a new body. Well, I first reconfirmed a few things one being that I was definitely in my adolescence being only around 150 centimeters tall, I had a slightly darker skin tone, and most strangely though my eye color shifted from being a brown to a golden brown with flecks of red here and there.

Hmm, well at least it wasn't that big of a change, but I should really get cleaned up ,maybe change some of my clothing as I believe appearing before Gilgamesh again in rags would be quite disrespectful, and I don't really need the guy who could vaporise me with an angry thought just because I did not dress appropriately.

I went over to the closet to check if it was stocked with any cloths. To my utter surprise, it was actually stocked with clothing. The closet itself was actually quite big and was filled to the brim with quite a large selection of clothing from clothing you would find in ancient Egypt to the dapper clothing of a Victorian English gentleman. So many pieces of clothing to choose from so little time, hmm how about I'll stick to the same style of clothing with a few changeups. I picked up a new white cloak with a hood, a black polyester shirt, black combat boots to replace my dingey sandals, and another white sirwal. Well, with tomorrow's clothing picked out I guess I'll take a quick shower and wipe away all this dirt, but honestly I'm tired as shit so I'm just gonna crash on this nice bed.

Wake up…..Wake up…..Wake up

"Aaaawh what now," I said aloud. I looked around to see where that voice was coming from and oh god damn it, I'm in the void again. Sigh, was landing in the desert and exploring Uruk a dream?

"You do not belong here" the voice echoed in the void.

"Who are you? Show yourself" I commanded.

"As you wish" the voice whispered back

Gold and black particles began to appear and form a woman. The woman that appeared before was quite stunning, to say the least. She had crimson red eyes and long blonde hair that was complemented by a black crown. She wore a black dress with gold and Tyrian purple accents that complement her stunning figure without revealing so much skin.

"You do not belong here " she repeated in low monotone voice. The lady began walking forwards in a slow yet somehow seductive manner. You know in any other circumstance I would definitely flirt with her, but this is strange situation not that I mind.

"Your soul is foreign to this world yet your body is anchored into reality. The stink of death is also radiating from your soul yet you still live"

"And what does that all mean to me?" I asked the approaching women. She just kept on getting closer to me without bothering to answer my question.

"I will help you," she said in her monotone voice. More black and gold particles began to clump together, forming a strange weapon. It was a double sword with one blade being black and gold while the other blade was gold and blue with a small motif of the sun in the center of the blade. The most strange part though was the two circles. The first circle I could understand it serving as a crossguard but the outer circle that connected two blades made the sword staff look heavier and impractical. The most important thing that troubled me though was how the heck she thought that this weapon would help me?

It finally clicked together, she intends to kill me that's how. Like what you would do to dying animal, putting it out its misery. Well, I don't intend on experiencing death again, so time to implement one of my more brilliant plans, operation run away from the sexy psycho lady.

"Please stay still this will only take a second," she said in a dead tone.

"Hell no, I don't intend on getting stabbed, see yea" I yelled back at her as I made a mad dash in the opposite direction.

"Wait, come back-I really just want to help" she called back in a pleading voice as she increased her pace.

"Well you aren't making a good case for me to believe you" I exclaimed back to her as I continued to run.

"But it all it would take is just one stab and you will be much better"

"Are you insane!? How does stabbing someone make them feel better?"

With the sound of my lungs pounding, huh huh huh, began to calm, I think I'm far away enough from her. She may be beautiful, but she is most definitely insane and you don't jam it in the crazy ones.

Suddenly, those black and gold particles began to appear again, and once again the lady appeared with her weapon at the ready. Ohhh great, she can teleport. How am I going to get out of this one?

"Jeez-Hmph, didn't your parents teach you that calling people insane is rude," she said indignantly with a blush.

"And how does stabbing me with your metal stick of death going to help?"I countered.

"Well if you let me explain early, you would've known that your soul was slowly rejecting your body and that any goddess or god associated with death that sensed you would have sent out their loyal dogs after you to reclaim your soul. Once they catch you, they would immediately destroy your soul since it's against the natural order" She lectured.

"Wait a minute, why is my soul rejecting my body and how is my soul 'Unnatural' " I asked in a confused tone.

"Hmm, how to explain. Well, uhm... Hmm.." she said in a frustrated manner, she got into a little pose with her tilted to her side with her hand on her chin as her eyes scrunched up in contemplation, which made her look quite cute in my opinion.

"Well, I don't know how to say it but your soul is k-kinda dead" she finally answers in a regretful tone.

"WHAT" I explain loudly.

Unfazed by my shock, she continues, "Well you see your soul is not that of someone who is alive, and with that in mind, your situation is sorta like a possession which a soul would take over a body. That leads to the body to slowly decay as the body tries to eject the foreign soul"

She then shifted into a slightly different pose, this time putting her other arm underneath the other arm which was holding up her chin.

"Well to answer your other question, your very existence is unnatural as it does originate from this world, for all I know, you're a dimension traveller or an alien" she said thoughtfully "Hmm, though whoever placed your soul in that body did a really shoddy job, it's almost as if they were trying to set you up for failure. Its okay though, I can fix that with my spear since I laced it with the water of life. It gives me the power to bring you back to 'life', or at least something close to it." she finishes with a self-satisfied expression, proud she was able to explain it all in full.

"... Let me see if I'm getting this straight. My soul is somehow surrounding my body because it's 'dead', and that this so-called water of life you placed on your sword-spear will somehow fix that?" I deadpanned.

"Yup" she cheerfully exclaimed.

"... I don't believe you." I say with my face so flat you could mistake it for a piece of carved stone.

"Ehh, why don't you" she pouted.

"There has to some type of caveat or is there something you want?" I say with a tad bit more edge creeping into my voice, my annoying beginning to really show.

"Hmph, I'm a wonderful goddess you know! I'm doing this for your own good, okay!" she replied with indignation.

I gave her skeptical look to counter her expression of outrage, the staring contest of which continued for a few minutes until she broke the silence.

"Fine, there's a side effect that will take effect once I stab you with my spear. The energy of Shamash, Utu or whatever he calls himself these days, left behind will integrate with your core, properly transforming you into a pseudo descendant of a god."

"Okay, and how does that benefit you?" Disbelief evident in my tone.

"Well, I want you to claim yourself to be a descendant of Shamash"

"I still do not see how that will benefit you"

"I want a little revenge on him for turning my poor pet bull into beef jerky" her pout returning with force.

Ouhh...oh shit I sorta ate part her pet bull….well let's not mention that to her...its something she doesn't need to know.

"Besides that, I want to see the look on his face when he finds out his little excursion backfired on him" She exclaimed with glee. Slowly her smile became sadistic and cruel in nature "Oh the things I can do with this prime blackmail material. Hmm, maybe I can get him to help me convince father to let me get another bull, OH, or better yet, I can get him to do all my paperwork. WAHAHAHA!" she finished with maniacal laughter more fit for a corny Saturday morning villain and not a Sumerian goddess.

"Ughh can you now care to inform me why and how he turned your bull into beef jerky so I can get a little bit of context?"I asked in curiosity.

I mean there has to be an interesting story behind that. Plus you never know when you when you need to know how to make delicious godly beef jerky.

She looked at me quizzically before nodding in acknowledgment "Well, the bull was given to me as my companion to keep me company while Father was busy running everything. He was my best friend and he would sometimes keep me warm during chilly nights. My sister was jealous because Gugalanna, or as I knew him, , was gentle, soft and could change his size and shape, but most importantly was that was not given to her, 'spoiled brat'. She was the 'darling girl' that father could not reject so she always had a chip on her shoulder when it came to my friend. Then some mongrel king rejects hers and she gets so antsy about it and sends to burn down his lands."A lone tear began to fall across her face, which she quickly wiped off in order to continue her story.

"In short Gugalanna was slain and then a certain king sacrificed him to Shamash….. Sigh, and then …..Shamash had the gall to roast him over a live volcano for in quotes 'because I want to create the best beef jerky to have ever existed.' He then dumped what was left back in the volcano…."It looked she was about to cry but she able to reign in her emotions at the last second.

Well damn, I feel a slightly ashamed that I asked about it. I guess an apology is in order.

"I'm sorry" I whispered to her.

"Don't be, you had nothing to do what happened, plus I'm mostly over it now" she replied.

"..."

An awkward silence ensued for a few minutes until she finally was able to recompose herself.

"Ahem, Well let's get back to business. I'm going to stab you with the spear, then we go our separate ways okay."

"Uhm, before we proceed with your plan, how do you know this would even work?" trepidation clear in my voice.

She brightened up a bit and replied "Well that's easy, I work with souls all the time so I, generally, know what I'm doing. Plus, I've been experimenting with my water of life authority" as happily explains as she eases closer and closer

"Wait, one more thing. How far do you have to stab me with that spear and isn't there another way you could do this?"I questioned nervously totally not as a stalling tactic 'cause I'm still nervous about this whole, 'stabbing me' business.

"Ufu, maybe" she replied mischievously "this is the fastest way because...ugh….I'm goddess that why!" her childish tone leaving little room for argument.

"WHAT!"

"Less questions more stabbing!" she says a manic grin takes over her face.

And before I could react, she appeared right in front of me and stabbed me in the center of the chest. The weird thing about the whole thing was the fact that instead of pain you would usually feel from being impaled by a spear, all I felt was a sort of warmth that felt like a sunny spring day, yet intertwined with it the stark coldness that I felt when I had died.

Slowly but surely the feeling of spring overcame winter's grip until the cold had finally dissipated.

"SUCCESS, whos the best goddess? I AM-" she cheered as she began to dance like a cheerleader, pom-poms appearing in her hands as she congratulated herself.

"Ahem…" i make out as the proper feeling finally returned to my body, allowing me to speak.

"Ooooh, yeah sorry about that. Our little meeting is getting cut short. Sigh, it's almost time for you to have your meeting with that Mongrel, so I guess this is goodbye for now" as the her image began to fade into the dreamscape.

Before she completely fades I yell out, "Wait, can you at least tell your name?"

What remains of her image contemplates my request before a smile returns and she replies, "Well I suppose it would be rude of a goddess such as I to leave without introducing myself. Very well mortal, my name Ereshkigal, queen of the Underworld and The Great Lady of the Earth." She announced with pride as a flash of her godly might eliminated from her fading form.

The Last thing I heard before I left the dream being, "Oh, and please say hi to Gil for me. I love it when he squirms"

"YAWWWN, that was the weirdest dream I have ever had," I say to myself as I rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Then again my first week here has been strange, to say the least."

Though that strange dream raised a few questions such as, what if she is lying, what if that spear water of life thing was a placebo, and why go all the trouble of helping to get back at Shamash when her sister Ishtar and Gilgamesh were the direct causes of her friend's death? 'Sigh', so many questions and so little time. Plus the fact that I have to meet up with Gilgamesh is really cutting into my brooding time…. Fuck! I HAVE TO MEET UP WITH GILGAMESH! I quickly put on the clothes that I had set aside for today and I began a mad dash to the throne room.

**2 minutes later…**

Huf-Huf-Huf, I think I made on time-

"You're late for breakfast mongrel, but no matter, take a seat and enjoy the feast I have so graciously prepared. It is very rare for such a mongrel to be seated with a king such as I, be awed by the variety and exotic breakfast foods I have collected from foreign lands. This hall contains delicacies from the shores Japan to backwaters of West Virginia. Let the feast commence, and enjoy but a fragment of my treasures."

Well, I was certainly awed(not) by the amount of food, but when the heck did he get the time to go gather this much food. Did he have some sort of magical refrigerator that keeps all this food fresh? Scratch that, knowing tall blond and douchey he probably does have a magical refrigerator.

The feast was a quiet affair with no one speaking a word. Eventually, though Gilgamesh got off his golden throne and took a seat right across from me.

"Tell me mongrel what was death like?I have yet to experience it firsthand and you must find some way to entertain me, lest you feel less like a guest and more a worm"

'Ugh'. How the heck does he know that!? I don't remember Archer Gilgamesh having an ability like that, but he said he had never died which means I'm not working with a heroic spirit or a servant, but with the real deal.

"How did you know?"

"Oh silly mongrel, deflecting my question now are you… very well, I will grant you the knowledge you seek, but from now on answer my questions appropriately. It would be a shame if I have to ruin those clothes you are wearing after such a magnificent meal. It is Sha Nagba Imuru that allows me to discern the truths of the world with a glance."

The King of Uruk took a simple glance at me and made an observation "A body made by unnatural means, a soul that reeked of death, yet overnight the stench of death has all but disappeared and replaced by divinity all thing. HAHAHA, this why you are still alive mongrel. The things that happen to you quite interest me in a way not even my great treasures can not. Now to answer my question, I'm interested in your tale"

"Ugh, well, it was just me sitting in a void for a while. Then a hole appeared and I fell for a long time 'till I landed in the middle of the desert. After that I kept walking until I got here and-, well you know"

"Hmm that quite a boring rendition of the afterlife, but I digress mongrel. What will you do with your second chance at life, such a thing is not something to waste after all?"

"Well, Ugh I'll get rich, marry a nice woman and have two kids, retire, and travel the world. You know having a normal life and not locked in a life or death struggle every other day"

"FU-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, you must be joking mongrel, the chances of you living a 'normal life' are impossible. Your divinity, your aura, your power is bound to attract countless lesser mongrels to you like a bear to honey. Your very life will be a constant battle as you battle scavengers who wish to wield your power, asinine fools who believe they can control you and cowards who wish for your protection. Try again mongrel, what is your true desire"

Ugh, well, honestly I really have no plans besides getting back to civilization and returning back to my normal life. Well uhhhhhh maybe-

"Your silence is quite fitting mongrel. To have no real dream, no goal for the future, pathetic. A second chance at life is a unique opportunity to fulfill your desire you were unable to complete in your original. To squander such a golden opportunity on a foolish wish when you know deep down such a wish is impossible is wasteful to an excess that even I shudder at. Your first days here have been an indication that there is more to this world than meets the eye. This world is filled to brim with gods, monsters, and demons; with the knowledge of their existence is only known to a few outsiders. That knowledge in itself gets many killed mongrel. You either live as a hermit or you join one of the many factions, only to become a rat climbing on top of its fellows to reach even more prestige and power."

The King of Heroes took a deep breath and then exasperated "What is it you truly desire? Do not tell me what others envisioned you to be or what you were forced to become. Tell me what is you want."

"What do I want" I whispered to myself. When I was young I dreamed of having space empire, but I quickly realized that dream was impossible. Then I wanted to be a soccer player, but after having one bad season then a successful follow-up season I realized that soccer maybe wasn't for me. Then my parents encouraged me to pick up mathematics which I was quite easy to me, but in all honesty, it's quite boring, I was never one of those people who sees each problem as a puzzle so it was nothing but work. What should I do, what should I say… want do I want to say? He brings up good points. I don't have any intentions of joining any of those so-called 'factions' and I can't go back to a normal life anyway.

So I might as well look back further into my childhood to find some inspiration, an answer to the king's question.

When I first saw the Lord of the Rings I was awed by the spectacle, the storytelling and the action that took place in the movie. I imagined myself leading the charge of the Rohirrim against the orcish horde that besieged Minas Tirith. To be a badass who could take on the entire Nazgul.

Even before I watched the Lord of the Rings, I envisioned myself blowing up the Death Star like in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. To be an ace pilot and escape an Empire fleet. To jump around and save the day with a magic sword.

'Sigh', so many fond memories of watching and enjoying so many movies, but I realized they all had something in common. They allowed my childish mind to escape reality for short periods. To have an adventure that I would never be able to experience first hand. That's it, what I truly want to do.

I steeled my nerves to answer the king's question "King of Heroes, I want to have an adventure, to live life to its fullest, to travel the world and most importantly to reach my true potential"

The King of Heroes gave me empty look before his impassive stare slowly began to lighten till he began to chuckle " Hahaha, well said mongrel, well said."

He suddenly stood up and took a few paces back before turning towards me with a smug smirk on his face "Now mongrel tell me how will you accomplish your goals"

I quickly replied "I may not have the skill nor the resources to achieve my dreams, but with your help King of Heroes I can reach my goals"

The King quickly retorted "Quite audacious of you to ask me of all people to help you, but you have been quite amusing so far. Hmm very well mongrel, let it not be known that I am one to refuse help when asked by one with a dream worth fulfilling. I shall teach you my ways, but prepare yourself mongrel, for I shall put you through training that even the most grizzled of warriors would fail."

After his little speech, The King of Heroes began to walk out of the room until he reached the exit before turning around and saying "Your training starts right after you finish your breakfast, so prepare yourself, and hold onto your dream. It may be the only thing left unshattered."


	7. The First Day

"Where are we going, my liege?" I asked wondering where the heck we are going as we have been going up and down hallways and stairwells for the last 10 minutes.

"You will see mongrel." The King of Heroes replied softly.

Sigh, he did not even bother answering the question. Well, I guess it is to be expected of him.

We finally came to a stop once we reached an ornate wooden door.

"Welcome to Great Library of Babylonia, inside holds the vast amount of knowledge I have accumulated over the years. This is where your training shall begin mongrel." proudly brags Gil as pushes the doors open, motioning me to enter the library.

Well, I'll damned, this is one large library. This place easily dwarfed the library congress, heck that is an understatement this place has miles upon miles of books that probably contained all sort knowledge that has been lost in the sand of time. Besides the infinite amount of books, the library itself was lavishly decorated with mosaics that littered the walls and ceiling, expertly sculpted statues, and exotic plants.

"I have devised a schedule to help you reach your potential; From after breakfast to lunch, we will discuss the history and the current political climate of the factions and tactics to help you succeed on the battlefield and in the courtroom. After lunch will be conditioning and combat training which will only stop once break for dinner. After dinner, well, I have a little project for you to complete. When you're finished with that, I suggest you immediately go to bed as I will slowly increase the intensity of your training with each passing day"

A Golden portal suddenly opened up and dropped its content in a nice little stack of books. Well, by little, I actually mean a 10-meter stack of textbooks… so not very little at all actually.

Yippee, I love(hate) reading textbooks so much that I just want to gouge my eyes out. Especially in my junior year of high school (Shudder)…..so many long hours wasted on reading chapters that we were never tested over. Just ignore the doom stack of textbooks, Nick, if you ignore its existence then it does not exist right? Who am I kidding I-

"If your done sulking Mongrel, I will continue explaining. These books will cover all the topics I intend to teach you, but fret naught, you not need to read all of them, they are merely supplemental, I will lecture you all you need to know. But because of my leniency, I expect you to commit every piece of information to memory mongrel, so take a seat and I will begin today's lecture" Gilgamesh continued with his lecturing tone.

I took a seat at an empty table and focused on what the King has to say.

"Today mongrel, I shall give you a short overview of some the more important factions of the world," Gilgamesh said, grabbing a book from the huge tower textbooks. When he opened it up, it showing a magical projection of an Human with 4 great white angelic wings clad in golden armor wielding a shining sword, a dark warrior with his own single pair of wings, dressed in spiky black armor with sickles in each hand and a clad in blood-red armor holding a blood-red trident, 6 batlike wings casting a great shadow, all three looking like they are about to strike each other.

"First off we have the Abrahamic factions, the descendants of YHWH, or however his followers dub him: The Angels, The Fallen Angels, and The Devils. The three factions have a tenuous peace treaty that is constantly being broken and tensions are slowly rising between them. It's only a matter of time before conflict arises again and when it does it will mean at least the complete annihilation of at least two of the factions, with the high chance of most of humanity following them. Though the situation is quite dire for each faction for different reasons. The Angels can not replenish their numbers which makes them relate to the Church, which a dubious gamble at best as the faith of some mongrels ranges is fanatical at best nonexistent at worse. The Fallen are disunited, as some seek peace while others clamor for war, the only thing keeping the faction from killing itself being powerful personalities and a mutual hatred of their enemies. While the devils don't face a population crisis or a lack of unity, they face massive civil unrest as lower class and reincarnated devils slowly become the majority population, and yet have fewer rights, growing more resentful of their pure-blooded peers who desperately try to keep their noble status even the world changes around them, a revolution is just waiting to happen. As for the leaders of each faction, each one of them is greatly respected, with each keeping the many dispersed groups united to a common goal, but each has their own failings which can hinder their reign."

"The Leader of the Angels is Michael the fool would gladly sacrifice as many of his loyal follows as long it keeps the status quo, a being who was created only to follow with barely any clue of how to lead. Azrael of The Fallen Angels is too compassionate for his own good and refuses to take the appropriate actions needed to keep the rogue sections of factions in line, even as they scheme against him. Finally, the current Lucifer, the strongest of the Four Great Satans, has a great love of family to the point of nepotism in which he is able to overlook the flaws of each one them, and is too trusting of his inner circle. Now any questions mongrel?"

"No sir" I replied

"Hm", Gilgamesh nodded, pointing to each of the creatures in the projection.

"To identify each of them you would have to look at their wings. Devils will have batlike wings, Angel's wings are pure white while their fallen cousins are blackened due to them falling from grace. You may have notice mongrels that each figure has a different amount of wings. Well, mongrel if you ever face the biblical factions that you know that the higher amount of wings an individual has the more powerful they are. That concludes our little segment of the biblical factions. Now onto the Hindus"

The king took a seat at the table before continuing his lecture.

"The Hindus are quite a powerful faction that could potentially spread its influence but they mostly stay within the Indian subcontinent. Though they are not without weakness as Indra the king of the Hindu gods is quick to anger and almost as arrogant as myself in my younger days, which has lead to cold relations with the other factions. Any questions mongrel?"

"Ugh, no my liege"

"Good, continuing onto the Celts, Norse, Shinto, Greeks, Egyptians, and the Buddha. In my opinion, they are regional powers who each stick to their own territory but unlike the Hindu, they do not have to power or the will to expand their influence. The Celts are fierce fighters who are efficient with runic magic. They Occupy mainly Brittany, Ireland and northern Scotland. They are led by Dagda and are mostly united except for the issue of Cu Chulainn which still divides the Celtic pantheon to this day. The Norse are mainly in Scandinavia, where they are led by Thor, son of the former king Odin. There are still elements within the faction that want to start Ragnarok, though they are suppressed, lest Fenrir wakes again. The Shinto stick to the Japanese archipelago and are led by a council of gods, though Amaterasu is often the face of the group. They are on good with the minor youkai faction that resides in Kyoto and are on better relations with the Church than most pagans, though that isn't saying much. The Greeks are led by Zeus and mainly stick to Greece. Not much to say about them besides the fact that Hades is still resentful about which domain he got to rule. Hmmm, the Egyptians are the most secretive and isolationist of the regional factions though they do possess Aten the disk of the sun, a weapon I would like to add to my collection one day, but other than that there's not much you need to know about besides their led by Amun-Ra and that they are close allies with the Hellenic Pantheon. The Buddha is led by its founder, the Gautama Buddha and they mainly reside in China and Southeast Asia, though their influence can be felt over Japan and India, where they are quite friendly with both powers. Questions mongrel? "

"..."

"Good, then that concludes today's lecture. If you want to learn more about the faction I suggest you look through one the textbooks for more information as I do not feel like going through every minuscule detail of each faction. Now feel free to do whatever you want for the next 20 minutes as I prepare lunch."

As Gilgamesh was about the exist the library I asked him a question.

"What about the Sumerian gods?"

The King of Heroes Turned around and gave me scowl before saying "You are treading dangerous ground mongrel."

A tense silence overcame the room until The King began to walk out of the room.

"I do not wish to speak of those fools right now, but perhaps later when I am in a better mood. For now, do not disturb me, I wish to rest." he snarled as he marched out of the room, the tension only dying once he was well and gone.

Well, I guess it's just me and my thoughts. Perfect time to review what I've learned.

Gilgamesh confirmed the existence of multiple pantheons which will probably be useful later on, but what he confirmed that overshadows that revelation is the fact he confirmed what the status of the Biblical faction are, which if my memory is right then I've wound up in the DxDverse.

I guess that means I should avoid loli dragon gods and the hero faction, assholes. Hmm if that's the case I should probably keep the fact that the big G is dead to myself otherwise the church will be all over my ass. If anything, I guess I have a new goal for myself. Stop the khaos brigade otherwise how am I going to enjoy my new life if the world is in a constant state of war. Now that I think about it though, how does Gilgamesh even know all of this?

I mean he doesn't ever seem to ever leave this place and if he does the gods would definitely notice him so how does get all information from? The books in the library are records of the past so unless he has a magical item that lets him spy on everyone, I have no clue.

… probably magic. It always tends to be magic.

Oh well, I guess I'll grab some lunch. How hard could this training be anyway?

1 Hour later...

Well, lunch as was quite a treat, especially those burgers. Sigh, if only I didn't have to condition after lunch as I would've stuffed myself silly, but alas, if I ate too much the chances of me puking are quite because Gilgamesh probably has some crazy workout regime that would make lesser men weep at the sheer impossibility of such a lesser men, though I can reinforce my body plus I'm defiantly stronger than I was when I was thirteen when I was in my old body.

"I see that you finished eating mongrel. Follow me to to the Training Fields." Gilgamesh beckoning me to follow him.

After what seemed to about 5 minutes of walking up and down the halls we finally stopped upon what can easily be described as a giant mural of the landscapes of the Earth's environments. From the Himalayan mountains to the Sahara desert, no environment was left out in this huge hodgepodge of a painting. Though while the painting was nice and all why the heck would he lead me here as this place seems like a dead end.

Just I was about to make a sarcastic comment about how this is a dead end, The King placed his hand on the painting. Suddenly the painting began to fade away until it finally disappeared. An endless meadow then took place in what I believed would be a large room or maybe an arena.

"This is where you shall train mongrel. This place allows us to train in any environment on the earth by simulating and replicating the conditions of said environment. Besides recreating a location down to the most minute detail, this place allows for the simulation of opponents. Now you may be wondering how such a place is possible. Well to answer your question before you even ask it. It was built by the finest mages and builders of Uruk who diverted some of the leylines that naturally run through Uruk to power this faculty. This Facility responds to my wishes and recreates the scenario and beings to the best of my knowledge."

Well...I guess there goes my question though if that's the case then what environment will I train in then?

As if he was reading my mind, The King announced "Today mongrel I shall help increase your endurance by having you complete a five-kilometer jog at 2000 meters above sea level on a barren plateau so prepare yourself mongrel as you may find it harder to breathe. Fufuhahahahaha!"

In an instant, the environment began to shift and morph till that pretty springtime meadow gave way to a barren flat land.

'Hu hu hu', it's definitely getting harder to breathe ...the lack of oxygen from the sudden change of attitude is going to make this difficult, to say the least.

"Now listen, Mongrel, you will remain here until either you break or decide to release you, and with each passing day I will increase the altitude by 20 meters and at the end of the week I will extend your jog by one kilometer," he announces with sadistic pleasure seeing my face.

Is he insane! if I stay here for let's say a month I would have to run nine kilometers at 2600 meters above sea level and-

"Chop chop mongrel, you better get started or you'll be here forever. As some added motivation, I shall time you and if you don't get finished within the next five minutes I shall double your training. Oh, and before you begin do you remember these?" he say as he outstretched his arms, the golden portals of his armory opening.

Out of the Gates of Babylon came about one of the armored suits I faced earlier.

"Now to make it more interesting, I generously decided to have one of these animatronics help you with motivational issues that you are sure to come across in your training." he bellows as he just floats up above my head, Damn do I want to wipe that smug look off his face.

"Oh, the previous suit you faced earlier was at it's lowest operating capacity, level one out of ten. This one is set to level two. This should help you by keeping up your awareness of your surroundings while running and increase agility as this treasure of mine with be trying to main you. Ha! If you impress me I may just skip level 3 and just raise it to level 4, that is a suitable reward to prove your strength."... the worst thing is I'm sure he's not trying to mock me.

Welp, that's all the motivation I need…...as soon as he signals for me to go I'm going as fast I can as I don't feel getting skewered again in less than 24 hours.

"You may begin when you are ready mongrel," The King of Heroes said smugly

I began to reinforce my body to a level I believed would be enough for me to breeze by the exercise. I mean if I was comparing to when I was running away from the bull I defiantly ran far more than 3 km plus I'm a whole lot faster than the average human even without magic so I probably got this.

The real challenge is definitely going to be the altitude, I'm not acclimated yet but I think with the application of magic I should be able to counter the effects. Either way, that suit of armor should easily be able to outrun as while it may have good reflexes and speed it should be inconsequential as we are no longer confined to a small room. Plus, if I can outrun a metal bull of death for a while surely I can outrun this rust bucket even if it is set to 'level two'.

With my little self-monologue done, I began to get ready. I got into the classic track starting position and then I launched myself into a high paced jog, a trail of dust following my every step.

After a minute of running, I was getting kind of cocky.

"Well, this is so bad. I am breathing a bit harder than I would if I was running at sea level but there is no sign of that suit. This too easy….way to easy….Ohhh shit" I said as I saw I was running towards a plateau… which is another way of saying a giant 2,000 meter drop.

As I got closer and closer I realized I needed a plan. 'Well, shit..which way I should run now? If I run back I will run into that death machine but if I just run forward I would run off a cliff. Uh,,wha-maybe- I GOT IT! If I just start running close to the circumference of the plateau that should give plenty of space for me to run though it won't give me a lot of room to maneuver.

As I was so absorbed in my planning, I nearly miss the Sound of "CLANK CLANK CLANK" that I was so intimate with. Before I could yell 'Holy shit!' The suit was steadily catching up. I've got to get away NOW.

'Huh, in hindsight, maybe pausing stopping to think for a few seconds was a terrible idea with this killer machine coming after my sorry ass, but honestly, it's not like it can get any worse-' (BOOM!) and suddenly the ground began to shake as a massive explosion rings out.

From far above I hear the King yelling, "Oh mongrel, did I forgot to mention that at level 2 those sentries have the ability to use wrist-mounted rockets?"

"YES, YES YOU DID! I WOULD VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IF YOU WOULD NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" I scream in the most polite tone I could muster.

"Well then mongrel, keep running, you only have half kilometers left to go. Do you truly wish to fail so close to your goal?" honest confusion evident in Gil's tone.

'...Why do I continue to jinx myself? Do I really hate winning that much?'

Ugh, anyway, only half kilometer left to go, I can do this! I'll just reinforce myself to my limit to get this last part done.

As I increased my speed I took a look back to see where that sentry is and surprisingly (not) it was only around five meters away from me…. you know if that thing bothered to shoot another missile I'll probably die. Sigh, this is slightly worse than the Bill the bull(Seriously what is with that name), least the damn thing didn't shoot fucking missiles at you.

As I was about to unleash all of my magically powered strength into a single leap, a booming Command rings out, stopping me mid-leap.

"You can stop now mongrel!" is the only thing I can hear besides the sound of my head crashing into the rocks on the ground as my aborted leap causes me to tumble to the ground and hit my head, hard.

"What!?" I scream in what I don't know whether it was anger, pain or just utter confusion or just

"Celestial sentry 203 stand down!"

The Sentry suddenly ceased all movement, disappearing into one of Gilgamesh's gates.

Before I can even wrap my head around that sudden cut off Gil's already beginning the next exercise.

"With that little warm-up complete I shall teach you the first two weapons, a soldier of Uruk learns, the sword and the bow." .

The landscape shifts and morphs until that barren plateau became one of the many skyscrapers in a cityscape that rivaled Manhattan, Gilgamesh now being a shining Golden Blip on the very top of the Empire State Building. Suddenly the streets and the sky were filled with wyverns, undead, and other phantasmal creatures.

Three Portals opened above the king and slowly golden two swords began to appear out of the gate until Gilgamesh grabbed them. Each sword is of irregular design and with a length of at least 165 centimeters, these were unique, to say the least. What came out of the third portal was surprising especially with the reputation of the archer class. It was a blue and silver quiver filled to the brim with arrows that followed the same color scheme. The quiver quickly attached itself to The King.

"Now stay here mongrel and bear witness as I demonstrate to you how a king uses his weapons!" his voice still carrying across the city as if he was only a few feet away from.

And like that The King of Heroes jumped off a skyscraper….oh god The King of Heroes just Jumped off a skyscraper! I looked over the edge to see if The King survived and what do you know that bastard survived, landing with perfect grace atop a lamppost, not even making a dent as he landed… you know thinking about why did I think he was in any danger at all? Oh yeah, I keep thinking my life is still grounded in reality. HA!

Gilgamesh stood atop the post, surrounded by a sea of enemies.

"Vermin of the earth, prepare to be dissipated by my treasures for I, Gilgamesh son of Lugalbanda, king of Uruk shall show no mercy!"

With a mighty ROAR, all the surrounding creatures all charged at The King of Heroes. Gilgamesh watched the whole impassively 'till the first wyvern's claws were only a meter away from his face. Then with a slight smirk on his face, he bisected the offending wyvern while decapitating a dragon tooth warrior with a single swing of a sword. He then soared high into the air to dodge the incoming arrow fire. Thousands of arrows and fireballs engulfed the entire sky as the swarm of beasts, undead and other monstrosities desperately fired everything they had in the vain hope to eliminate the King of heroes, Gilgamesh seemingly disappearing into the storm of projectiles until he revealed himself on a ledge of a skyscraper, not a hair out of place.

"Utter vermin, Die swiftly. You offend me. Enki!"

The golden swords conjoined into a golden bow with ethereal white energy forming the string. The King of Heroes grabs a handful of arrows and knocked them all before releasing them in a deadly barrage of arrows. Each arrow had a different effect, some exploded on impact, others froze enemies in a coffin of ice while others set fire to a huge swathe of enemies within milliseconds. But even with those huge losses, the horde of enemies kept on charging forward towards the king while he just continued to fire from his position on the ledge, not even a gleam of sweat on his brow.

With each arrow being more deadly the next, the city rumbled and ached as Gilgamesh demolished block by block as entire mobs of creatures began to dissipate and flee the battlefield with only some the more resilient and blood-crazed creatures such as the greater wyverns continuing the charge, but even then it was a useless endeavor as the more powerful arrows cut through them like a hot knife through butter.

The horde of creatures that once encompassed the entire city was reduced to ash, mana and various remains within 3 minutes of combat.

"Hmph, mongrel I expect you to be able to replicate at least quarter of what I was able to do within a year's training" The King of Heroes bellowed, flicking away a small piece of dirt that was blown onto his shining armor

… The worst part is I know he's dead serious. He really believes I could do a quarter of what he did in a year's training… I don't know if I should be terrified or flattered.

But SERIOUSLY! What he did is just beyond human capabilities… this guy always uses the best of the best gear, but then again, that speed and accuracy of his was inhuman also -

"If you are done gasping and standing in awe at my spectacle then we shall begin with your bow training.

The scenery shifted from the ruined city to a mellow sunny field. With a lone target appearing 20 meters from us.

Gilgamesh pulled out a standard recurve bow and an ordinary set of arrows.

"Now listen to me mongrel, archery is not about how many arrows you can shoot at the same time nor is it about the number of gimmicky tricks you could perform, archery is about precision and speed. While enchanted or homing arrows can circumnavigate the problem of accuracy, wind speed and direction, a true master of the does not need such arrows to hit a target. Now mongrel, I want you to hit that target. Take as many tries as you want as I assess your abilities with the bow."

I grabbed the bow and an arrow before getting into position. I notched the arrow and slowly pulled back on the string while aiming at the target before letting loose. I watched as the arrow fly before it landed on the very edge of the target.

"Well mongrel, I can say your ability with the bow is utterly pathetic, your form is sloppy and your aim is poor but lucky for you this is quite easy to fix. Now notch another arrow and get into your firing position, I am going to correct you as we go along"

I repeated the same process as before but this time holding my form without letting loose.

"Plant your feet square to ground mongrel, and do not let you elbows sag"

I followed the king's instruction to the best my ability though, to be honest, he is being my lenient than I expected him to be.

"Good, now aim your bow to right slightly and aim higher as well. You may release your arrow when you are ready mongrel."

I released the arrow and closed my eyes as I did not want to embarrass myself if my arrow missed even with the King's help.

After a few moments of suspense and worry, I opened my eyes and was shocked that the arrow landed on the bullseye. "I landed a bullseye….I landed a bullseye….well I damned I did it. I did it, I did it-!"

"If you find such a paltry achievement worthy of cheer then I shudder to see what sort of waste you were before you came here. Now stop all that foolishness, we are not done. I will move the target and change the wind's speed and direction. For the next few hours, I want you to get a feel for how the wind and distance of the target affect where you aim."

And so that exactly what we did. For the next several hours I kept practicing my aim in various positions and environmental conditions until my hand began to bruise and become red raw as the skin was torn from pulling the string far too many times.

"(Yawn), That's enough for now mongrel. We can continue this tomorrow." the man sounding so utterly bored after standing there for hours using his powers to slightly affect the environment. I get the idea he saw me like a camp instructor would see a really 'slow' child.

Before the king left though he tossed me a small metal container.

"That is a container filled with an ointment that should help you heal your wounds faster. I'll need you in ready condition soon enough Mongrel."

With that said the Golden King began to strode towards the exit.

Well, that was quite intense and arduous but I think I stand a chance to whatever he will throw at me.

2 hours later…

"Now that you have finished dinner the last part of your training for today will here" Gil says as he wipes his mouth with a velvet napkin(Golden rule is O.P.)

"Uhmmm, my lord, this is just an empty room"

Seriously, describing it as a room is quite a stretch it more like a very large barren cavern that seemed to stretch for kilometers. The only indication that this was a room was the ceiling seemed to be perfectly chiseled.

"You are correct mongrel, but I'm not training you in this room. No, your training is actually building the room " The King said smugly. "Here are the plans mongrel." He tossed over the blueprints for the room before continuing "All the supplies you are already made for you. All you need to place them in its proper spot according to the instruction."

"Wah? But, my king, I don't think I would be able to read the instructions since I do not read cuneiform."

"Hmmp, Mongrel, did you not look at any of the books in the library?"

Now did I think about it I did not really look at the books at all. All I did was ponder the new information I was given by Gilgamesh.

"Judging from your silence then I take the answer was no. Well if you had you would've realized that your new body comes with a few new perks, one of which is the ability to speak in many tongues and understand it's written form as well. So yes mongrel, you should be able to read the instructions just fine."

"Uh, umm. Thank you my liege. But ahh, how does building a room help me with my training?"

"Hmmp, you are just like this room, empty and with no color, but under my tutelage, you will become colorful and majestic just you shall make this room. As you get stronger and faster, the process of shaping this room will be nothing more than a labor of passion, to show me your true depths. Hard work deepens the soul, and moving tons of materials around should get you stronger."

"Besides, you could think of this as your payment for my time and teachings. You would not be so poor a guess as to merely be a leech now?"

I opened up the blueprints and sure enough, I understood the writing but the true measurements of this room are ludicrous 10 kilometers wide by 15 kilometers long by 500 meters tall…..

"My king am I reading the measurements correctly because it seems-"

"Too large, no that should be about right"

"But -"

"Get started mongrel this room is not going to build itself."


	8. The Court

"Well crap baskets, what a good, believable excuse would Anu gladly accept without further questioning? How about I helped the kid because uhh, I felt it was my moral responsibility as a god of justice to help the kid…...there's no way he would buy that or even if he does he wouldn't care as it would still go against his mandate."

Shamash began to pace around the room contemplating what to do till a burst of jovial laughter began to echo across the room.

"Show yourself! None may sneak up on Shamash!" Shamash orders the intruder.

"No need getting angsty like that. A simple come in or greetings would have been sufficient"

After a brief flash of light, the woman appeared with a sadistic grin that would scare any mortal into submission.

"Ereshkigal why are you? And what with that scary face?" Shamash asked nervously as sweat began to form on his forehead.

"Oh little old me? Well, while I'm was in the neighborhood I thought I would just visit you for old times sake."

"That would make sense if you actually liked me. I mean that last time you said anything to me was just 'If it was up to me I would drag straight down to the underworld for your transgressions' so excuse me if I am quite skeptical of your true attention in this 'neighborly visit'" he said, sarcasm flowing from his final words.

"Well you're right, this is more like a business visit."

"What business do you have with me Ereshkigal?"

"I noticed that you've dug yourself a hole with father, so I thought I would help you. For a price of course"

"Wait a minute, how did you know about that and why should I even accept your help?"

"Ooh, that's easy. You're not the only one who can detect people over a large distance, so I tracked down that mortal and fixed up that shoddy work you left behind. As for why you should accept help? Well, if you don't Anu is going to punish you… severely. I can help you get out of your situation, scratch free. Take your time to figure out your answer. I'll give you a few minutes to decide, but after that, I'll go back to my domain, so choose wisely."

Shamash began to think about his one hand, Anu could be feeling generous when judging him and be merciful… or more likely he could be downright cruel and send him to the darkest pit of the underworld for millennia or two.

On the other hand, Ereshkigal's deal may literally cost him a pound of flesh or worse, she may want one of his domains of power.

"Ugh! 'sigh', Could you please tell me what your deal is Lady Ereshkigal?" He asked as politely as he can.

"Sure, since you asked so politely. My plan is quite simple. Just tell Anu that he is one of your descendants and that you wanted to make sure he lived."

There was a bit of a pause as the simple idea tried to sink into the God's head.

"That's it? That's it!? Why would he believe me if I told him that!?"

"Silly Shamash, don't worry so much, I'll back your word. Father is sure to believe me, he could never say no to one of his darling daughters and so won't push the issue If I side with, do you accept my plan?" a smile creeping onto her face that had a certain red-haired archer saw would have sent running to the hills.

After a few moments of hesitation, Shamash made his decision.

"I accept, but I want to know the price for your help."

"Ouhh don't worry. The price is something you should easily be able to pay"

"And what is that?" a tinge of curiosity in his voice.

"Simple, I want you to heat up the underworld every Friday"

"... Really that's it?!"

"Yup."

"But why? A Favor from a God is not something one would usually waste on a trivial matter like that."

"It is my duty as a Goddess to guard the underworld as well the safety of the souls that rest there. I want to bring warmth to the eternally cold place. I wanted them to feel the embrace of the sun again, but after the debacle with Nergal and my plan thwarted there was no way for me to achieve that. So this is the best way to achieve that."

After a moment of silence, Ereshkigal began to fade away as she made her way towards her home.

As she was about completely fade away Shamash stated "You know, you're a lot better than I originally thought." a small smile on the Goddess's face as she disappeared.

The next day…

"Are you sure this will work ?"

"Ouhh are you having a second thought ?"

"Well in hindsight this idea seems really stupid, I mean there's no way Anu would buy that even if you support my claim. Plus there is also the fact-!"

As he was going to continue his rant a loud booming echoed throughout the palace, "SHAMASH YOU MAY COME IN NOW!"

Shamash gave Ereshkigal a worried look with Ereshkigal just rolling her eyes and signaled him to walk with her following behind.

As the duo walked into the royal courtroom, rumors and gossips were being discussed among the gods and servants of the why Shamash was being summoned and why Lady Ereshkigal.

"Now Shamash you know why you were summoned here today."

"Yes, I do…" Shamash replied solemnly.

"Then explain why Shamash, Lord of the Sun, Justicar of Salvation and justice, Grand Seer of Divination and Protector of the law why have you broken one the most sacred laws that have been upheld since ancient times, why have you broken the law of non-interference. To remind you of what I mean, the law was created to stop us from interfering with humanity unless I sanction it."

"Well, you see I was…ugh"

"Go on"

"Saving my decedent from certain death." He said in a rush.

Many gasps were heard around the court as for a descendant of a Sumerian in this day in age is unheard of.

"A descendant you say."

Shamash quickly shook his in conformation.

"Hmm, do you have any proof that he truly your descendant."

"Well, I-"

"That's where I come in" Ereshkigal interrupted.

"Ouhh, I did not notice you my daughter as I was focused on what Shamash had to say, so how are you doing my princess."

"I'm doing fine daddy, but I have come confirm Shamash's testimony."

"Really now, that is surprising with the history you both have with each other, but since you are confirming it then I see no reason, not believe your testimony Shamash."

"Really" Shamash replied in astonishment.

"Yes really. Really, all you had to do was ask to help your descendant as he or she must be quite the specimen for you to act as most of our blood has all but faded away."

"Now my daughter since you have confirmed Shamash's testimony you must of have met this mysterious descendant, so do tell me his or her characteristics"

"Well he's young and ugh….has a lot of potential" Ereshkigal quickly replied.

"I see, well this is quite an intriguing development. Shamash, can you bring forth this descendant of yours, I am quite interested in meeting him."

"Well, you see-"

"He indisposed right now as well he is not ready to be judged by you" Ereshkigal quickly interrupted.

"Huh, well then, if that is the case bring him forth before me in a couple of years if not then I shall punish both you severely. For you Shamash, you will serve Ishtar for millennia and you my daughter shall be charged with the crime of false testimony which comes to a punishment of 100 years of your powers being restricted. Are we clear?"

The duo nodded in confirmation before bowing.

"Then you may be dismissed."

As he said those words the partners in crime quickly exited the courtroom trying secretly not to look suspicious.

"Well that was the nerve-wracking I've had to do in some time…..so where do we go from here?"

"Well is't simple, we bring him in when two years have passed," she said before disappearing into golden particles.

"... 'Sigh' well I better find the kid then," Shamash said to himself before walking back to his observatory.

While the pair went their own ways a third party has been watching them from afar.

Ishtar quickly digested this information and made a few conclusions. One she would definitely love to have Shamash to be her servant for a 1000 years and that Shamash at least did not know where his descendant is.

Frankly, she was quite interested in this hidden descendant because of the mystery it posed. After all, a descendant of a god doesn't just pop out of the blue without anyone else noticing. The last Sumerian demigod conceived was over 2000 years ago. Surely the blood of the gods would have been diluted to the point of complete irrelevance by now. Then again, perhaps he is a reincarnation of a hero…..and a descendant of Shamash...hmm. She quickly put two and two together and came up with the theory that this defendant is Gilgamesh's reincarnation.

A devious smile formed on her beautiful face before saying "Perhaps I should go find this descendant myself so we can have a 'Talk'. Hopefully this version will be far more agreeable than his predecessor, 'Ahahaha'."

Great Library of Uruk: 4 months later...

After living here for months, it was quite strange seeing Gilgamesh being able to get serious on certain topics yet quit lax or condensing in regards to others, yet lately it seems the serious side of him was showing up more often than not. I wonder what we will learn today as Gilgamesh seems to have a surprising amount of knowledge of just about everything.

"Well mongrel, it's about time to begin your lessons on the intricacies of court. While I myself have a bit of experience, I must admit that this sort of affair bores me to no end, my court itself did not suffer much due to my rule, untouched by the machinations that plagued later rulers. Fear not though, as I shall give the sufficient knowledge to get by without making yourself look like a fool or get yourself killed inadvertently" The King lectured.

The King of Heroes took a brief pause before continuing on. "The first thing you must know about the court is that there is always a certain Hierarchy that is to be respected. Open disregard for such authority results in punitive punishment of the offender, so it imperative mongrel that you know your place. With that in mind, you must be mindful of who is on the court and what is their ambition and reasoning for being there. Everyone has a reason for being there whether they simple slaves or the gods themselves. People's motives range from simple lust of power to a genuine belief they are doing the best they can do to serve their nation, so do what you must to find out what are people's ambitions as it will be the key to your success when at court."

"Uhm my liege, how should we address our superiors and when should one speak at a royal court," I asked.

"That is an easy question to answer mongrel; when addressing those above you address them by their title in a respectful manner no less no more, and do try to hide your insincerity as they might fight that offensive. As for the other question you only talk when addressed until you're high enough ranked to talk out of turn without consequence. Any other questions before moving on?"

"..."

"Good, now the court is always shifting with power moves being played behind the scenes so it best to only trust those you know well enough. To counteract those plans made against you have many opinions that range from bribery to assassinations. Whichever way you choose, your move should be connected to you. Have someone else take the fall if need be your survival is the most important as if you did die then my investment would have been a waste and I do not like my time being wasted."

"Ummm, is really that important considering I don't intend on going into politics?"

"Hmph, that quite simple minded of you mongrel, and here I thought you grew up some but I must have set my expectations a bit too high then. The simple fact is that you can apply this knowledge anywhere from politics to business and relationships. The core principle I'm trying to get in your feeble mind is the concept that you can not always be too trusting of others as they may have a motive."

"I see, I think understand"

"Good, good. We will continue then on to learning espionage techniques and perhaps help develop your ability to use traditional and modern modes of transportations. Now, are you ready to learn mongrel!?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"That's the spirit mongrel HA HA HA!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys have a good day because school is really going to be a headache this year.


	9. The Games Part one

It has been around a year and a half since my training has begun. Days after of days of hellish training that ranged from surviving in the most extreme of conditions to simple lectures on business. Not wanting to sound ungrateful or anything but at this point, I'm not sure why he's giving me all this training when my original goal was just to survive or avoid the supernatural and enjoy my second chance. Either way, Gilgamesh has certainly invested a lot of time on me so he must have his reasons, though I'm not sure what he has in mind has my best intentions in mind, what with my previous luck with sort of stuff has been.

I took a passing glance at the nearby ornate clock and noticed that it was 1:00 PM. Seems it's time for me to back get to the training fields/room and see whatever new torture Gilgamesh concocted this time.

As I enter the field I noticed that the field wasn't in its usual default sunny field, but instead, it was just a white empty void, nothing for miles on end.

This is a bit strange, feeling far too reminiscent of my time in the void.

Suddenly a haughty voice echoed through "Hm, I can see you shivering from here. No need to be frightened mongrel, I am just finishing setting a spectacle worthy of my viewership."

Tsk, what does he plan this time. Well, no point in wondering might as well just ask.

"My Lord, what is this spectacle you speak of?"

The terrain began to shift from the eerie void to a more pleasant sunny field and Gilgamesh appeared to be in some casual clothes.

"Well, after reviewing your past performances I believe you are ready to move onto the next step of your training. To confirm my beliefs, I have devised four games for you to complete. If you pass we continue your training. If you fail-..."

He left the threat hanging, leaving me to figure out whatever punishment he had in mind. Though besides the lingering threat, I could only imagine why the heck he would do this. I guess it is a good thing he is quite a straightforward guy when it comes to these things so I guess I will ask again.

"I see so you want to test me on skills that I have acquired so far but is it really necessary to make a game of it?"

"Why yes, it would be quite a boring slog of an event to watch you run through the motions or put you through mere standardized testing. Fret not, for your efforts shall not be wasted as I have devised a suitable award if you win these games."

So he there is an award for winning I guess that's an extra incentive to give it my all though I wonder what these 'games' will be. Meh, I could ask him again but I bet he will explain it anyway plus he really gets on me sometimes for asking too many questions.

"Now these games are quite varied and amusing, to say the least mongrel so it would be best you prepare yourself for the games start now HAHAHA!"

"WHAT!"

The surrounding changed into a creepy gothic fortress with a little wooden chest standing right in the middle of the room.

You know I should really not act as surprised about Gilgamesh's antics as I already spent a year with the guy though he is usually not excited so I guess this is a first. Sigh well lets what The King of Heroes has in store for us.

I opened up the little chest only to find a note in it. I unraveled the crumpled up note and began to read through its content.

'The first game is simple. I had to make it up to the tallest tower while surviving the hordes of worms and creatures. A nice simple warm up a peasant such as yourself should be able to accomplish in a timely matter.'

I tossed the note to the side and began towards the exit of the starting area. After exiting the area I was mildly amused by the gothic aesthetics though it seems the undead have yet to arrive. Well, the first thing I could do was either find a weapon while roaming around the castle or I could just demolish everything insight till finding the stairway to the tower.

Hmm, depending on the type of zombie or monster I could easily just destroy with my fists though that would be a last resort as I don't feel like dealing with rotten flesh, old bones or whatever these things will be made out of.

"RAAHH!"

And that seems like my cue to get out of here. I run down a corridor to my right, making sure to pay attention to the growing moans and roars.

15 minutes later…

So far it has been smooth sailing with hardly any form resistance in my way exploring the right wing of the castle has been quite easy and what pitiful amount of zombies and skeletons in my way were easily crushed by the mace I found on my little adventure. Though I wonder how this was a test as so far it just been me slaughtering my way through these weak zombies and skeleton heck dragoon tooth warriors would provide way more resistance or heck maybe a wraith or two to spice up a bit. I guess should continue blessing as this 'game' is quite easy which means I can relax a bit before I take on the other challenges.

Looking to my right I see a staircase that leads up to the next floor. Well isn't that horribly convenient?... a bit too convenient for my liking but seeing as it's my only way forward, I guess there is no choice. Maybe it will lead me to the tower I am supposed to go too. Well, I guess I'll go after all the only way to figure out what it leads to is to go up there and see for yourself.

After climbing a few flights of stairs I was met with the sight of another empty room like the room I started in except there was a table with a chest on it and a wooden door that most likely led to the main part of the second floor.

I opened up the chest and grabbed the second note that Gilgamesh provided before reading it content.

I hope you enjoyed the first floor for this floor is where the game really begins Mongrel. On this floor, there is a door that will lead you to your destination but unfortunately, you will have to survive waves of the undead before the door opens.

Hmph, this should still be a piece of cake as the undead has been rather fragile so far plus if worse comes to worse I could just smash open the door.

Entering the main part of the second floor I immediately noticed some stark differences between this floor and the last one. For one the atmosphere seems way tenser and smelt terrible like something died up here. Ignoring the changes in the atmosphere, first things I had to do was find that door, so I can camp it and let the hordes come to me. It also gives me the benefit of when I crush the final wave I can immensely enter and move onto the next stage, saves me a bit of energy.

Roaming around for a few minutes and exploring the second floor has been quite creepy, to say the least. Statues of men dying in agony and the disturbing paintings certainly didn't make my walk any better. Strangely enough, I have not run into any zombies or skeletons ever since entering this floor which means that ether Gilgamesh was bluffing or that I'm really in for a big surprise.

Turning to right I saw what seems to be the door that lets me have access to the tower. It was nothing out of the Ordinary so let's see if I can skip the horde of zombies by bashing it down.

I rushed towards the wooden door and using momentum I swung my mace with all my might, but to no avail, as the mace just bounced it. After trying to break down the door a few more times, I realized that I was just wasting energy.

While staring at the stupid door, a crimson tally mark appeared. For a moment silence overtook the entire castle until that moment was shattered with the moaning and groaning of the undead.

God damn it, it looks like I will have to fight some zombies after all, but it's not like this can get any worse. Oh great, I jinxed myself it will definitely get worse somehow. Wait a minute those tallies represent the wave number I am on, so that means !?

I quickly turned and to my utter dismay that single tally mark turned into five. Well….fuck me….

Get a hold of yourself this is not the time to sulk, I got things to do and places to be and no zombie is going to stop me!

I waited in anticipation for the horde of undead until the first ones finally arrived.

"Only 20 twenty of them….piece of cake"

As the initial wave hobbled their way through, they were quickly smashed with quick and well-placed hits to the head and other vital areas.

"Heh well that just the initial group lets see what else is in store"

As I strolled back to my initial position I felt something grab my leg. Looking down I saw many hands grip down on a leg. While this was happening I felt a slight breeze as two dragon tooth warriors jumped in the air to attack me above while three more attacked from my sides.

I have to hand it to them this is usually way above what they usually do but this is a reason I don't practice these things anymore.

As the skeletons ever got closer I could not help but smile at their hopeless attempt at maiming me. While I wanted to avoid them to conserve my energy for the other four games, I can't help but be a little excited at the challenge after all a year being with Gilgamesh I figured while I still like avoiding battles when they are unnecessary but I can't help and feel a slight excited when I fight things. Even in my original body I always felt a certain exhilaration when I fought in matches. I also have to admit to myself to myself that I get slightly arrogant when I fight which could prove fatal later on otherwise I'll get Gilgameshed. Hmm, I guess this is not the time to go down memory lane or deal with personal problems as I have to deal with these pests.

I reinforced my left arm, then used it smash through the stone floor to destroy or at very least forced to let go of me. Instead of either of those happening though I was able to hit the floor hard enough that I partially collapsed the floor, allowing me to avoid my assailants.

"Looks like lady luck is finally on my side."

Even though I feel around 10 meters my reinforcement allowed me to take no real damage from that fall plus I can always jump back on theirs.

Hmm, I hear a soft clanking noise not too far, Perhaps those dragon tooth warriors came down here to pursue me.

"You can come out little skeleton I know you're there."

The regular skeleton slowly walked out of the shadow and into the light though he was still partially hidden.

Just a regular skeleton….well I guess I'll destroy him before heading back to the second floor.

Before it could pull out what it was hiding its skulls shattered into hundreds of small pieces

Well, that's the end of that, now let's see what you were going to use on me. Picking up the object, I immediately recognized it as a Colt 1911a1. Well I guess luck is really on my side I escaped a trap, wasn't injured by the fall and I got an extra weapon I could use though if I remember correctly the standard 1911 only had eight .45 ACP rounds which means I will have to use it sparingly, so I holstered the pistol went over to the spot where the hole was.

Leaping back up to the second floor I noticed the dragon fang warriors were no longer there. Well if that's the case I guess I can wait a bit till they show up again.

Rah!

Nevermind here they come again but this time intermixes between the assorted zombies and skeleton were mini zombified chimeras...huh when did mini zombified chimeras become a thing….ouhh well just another few things to kill before the damn door opens up.

The first zombie in range tried to take a swing at me but a mere step backward and it appendage missed by a few inches, but it promptly met with a mace to the face caving in whatever was left in theirs. Next, a simple skeleton tried to disembowel me while I was dealing with one the chimeras, that for some reason shoots lasers and breaths poison gas, only to be countered with a simple roundhouse kick that sent the sword into a nearby chimera. The process of dismantling my opposition for another before the last one was kicked through one of the rare windows the castle sported.

Whew that the last of them, the door is still not open and I'm already getting tired. The chimeras were a bit harder to take than the rest, but they are still not immune to the good ole fashioned way of using brute force to smash them. Unfortunately, though it seems my handy mace is starting to get worn down like it looked like it would break the next time I swing it. Well, I should-

"GOOD GOOD GOOD, YOU MADE IT THIS FAR. WONDERFUL, TRULY WONDERFUL!"

I looked around the room only to find nothing, the only thing I could tell being whoever or whatever was talking is annoying and probably insane or is doing this on purpose to piss me off. I continued to search around the second floor and I just entered the dining room to see if there was anything there. But was unable to find the thing and that voice it is using is getting really annoying right now.

"TIP TOE, TIP TOE, TIP TOE THE HERO SEARCHES NEVER TO FIND, NEVER TO FIND"

"Can you shut it already! You've been at this for at least half an hour now!" I scream in frustration.

"Is he not satisfied with Hugsy's singing?" the voice asks in a, thankfully, much quieter voice.

"Look, let me be frank with you. At this point, you are just wasting everybody's time. Can you show yourself and let me kill you or just you go away and send in wave number five while you're at it!?"

"Hugsy brings Joy to all the children of the world! I will sure to make you are happy too!"

"'sigh', if I had a watch right now I would be tapping at it very conveniently right now."

"IF HUGSY CANNOT MAKE YOU HAPPY THEN HUGSY CONSUME YOU! HAHAHAHA!" the creepy childlike voice turning downright demonic near the end.

All the silverware in the room shot towards me, forcing me to dive underneath the table.

"HUGSY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!"

Tsk wraiths, if remember what Gilgamesh told me about them they are usually low-level spirits that persist on because they have unfinished business. They cannot really interact with the world without using a medium and another weakness of theirs is that the more mana they use the faster they will dissipate. Unfortunately, these training grounds will provide for its needs.

The last thing I remember from his lecture is that they the same abilities from they were alive such if some let's say had the ability to stop time then as a wraith they will hold onto to that ability, so I should be mindful of whatever ability this demented being has. Then the plan of action is to get out of this room and destroy that medium though I feeling that would not be enough.

With my plan formulated it time to implement it so I made a mad dash to the door.

"COME BACK HERE! HUGSY ONLY WANTS TO MAKE YOU HAPPY!"

"Hell no!" I replied back as I slammed the wooden door.

"HUGSY SHALL BRING OUT A PUPPET SHOW, A PUPPET SHOW TO ENTERTAIN ALL!"

Just keep ignoring him and keep running till you find something that is being used a medium and destroys it wait a minute…..why look for the medium when you can burn down the entire castle so that the medium burns with it….I mean there's a library on this floor and a lot of torches and candles…...so I guess we're burning down a castle today.

As I was running down one the few larger hallways, I tossed away my near useless mace and started grabbing as many torches and oil candles as possible.

Almost there, almost there, almost there just a few more steps then I can torch the place.  
3h ago  
Before I could enter the library a Giant 5-meter tall metal figure jumped in front the entrance blocking me from entering it.

"STOP IGNORING HUGSY."

Still going to ignore whatever he says because that metal monstrosity is trying to pulverize me while I'm holding all of these flammable items. Though I did overhear him say something about a puppet which he is a puppeteer in life. Well, that's useless information to me since I can't really cut his whatever allows to puppet this thing, but who said I need to use the door to get to the library.

Hmm, unfortunately with all these explosives and torches I don't think to crash through a wall is worth the risk in case any more of my supplies are damaged or worse it would explode. Hmm, plan two. who said I have to get the library right this instant. I can run around through the easily navigate halls due to my exploration earlier allows me to come back here while using my superior speed to get back here faster than that hulking piece of scrap metal could catch me.

"STOP MOVING AND LET ME CRUSH YOU!"

"How about no."

The reason why you are not able to hit me even when I'm constrained with all these supplies is the fact I don't exactly need to dodge your attacks as I can outrun you bulky puppet plus what attacks that stray to close for comfort are easily dodgeable due to the fact your attacks are telegraphed.

And we are back with that brute of a puppet still far behind me. Well, time to gets started then. I dumped the oil on the books and set the torch down which immensely ignited the fire which slowly began to creep its way around the , another job well is done now all I have to-

"HUGSY GOT YOU NOW."

I gave him a skeptical look before stating " We have been at this know for over an hour what makes you think you have me know?"

"WAHAHAHA HUGSY NOTICED THE STUFF YOU CARRIED SO GUYS DISTRACT YOU WITH PUPPET WHILE I MAKE NEW FRIENDS TO HELP TAKE YOU DOWN."

"Friends?"

"BEHOLD HUGSYS NEW FRIENDS."

An army of skeletons, zombies, and other undead creatures began to amass at the entrance, right next to the metal puppet.

Their sheer numbers and the fact I don't have any weapons makes taking on this many opponents is nearly impossible to take on in setting this confined plus with growing fire right next to me my escape opinions are limited….well played demented wraith ….well played…..speaking of which if I remembered correctly the door had five tally marks ,so where is wave five then?"

"THIS THE END FOR YO-!"

ROARRRR!

The entire castle began to shake with pieces of stone crumbling and chandeliers fell. It seemed a huge earthquake was taking place until it suddenly stopped.

As I and the horde of undead just stood there awkwardly just waiting to see what would happen. After a few more seconds of eerie silence, everyone regained their wits and began to focus on the present situation.

"ATTACK MY FRIENDS, FOR HUSGSY WILL LEAD TO VICTORY!"

Well, I can't go out through the normal exit so I guess it up or down...hmmm down it is.

As everyone was on the move a loud ripping sound overhead. Suddenly the roof finally gave way and something I never thought I would be up against.

ROAAARR!

…...Since when do dragons count as undead…..

"FLEE! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!"

As the Horde of undead tried to flee the dragon burnt them to a cinder. While this was going I smashed a nearby wall and ran through it as the flames from the burning library and the dragon began to spread.

Just keep running I told myself as ran through the hallway. After all, once that dragon is finished with the undead he will be coming for me and I don't feel like fighting a dragon with a pistol of all things.

"Huh huh I made back in time," I told myself. The problem is now how to open the damn door.

Observing the door I noticed that the tally marks that once marked the door have been replaced with a symbol of a dragon. So does that mean I have to kill the dragon to get past the door? If that's the case, I'm not sure I could beat that dragon as it was huge, its head was easily larger than a large van. Think Nick think, this is a pseudo test game thing that Gilgamesh said something about this mostly to test me and to entertain him at the same time, so Gilgamesh would not put me through something he knew I would have no chance in. That means there has to be a way around this hmmm let see bashing the door doesn't work which mean shooting at it would probably not work as it seems to be immune to physical attacks so how about how about destroying the wall right next to the door and see if I can just go around it.

Putting my theory to the test I threw a punch at the wall right next to the door and the wall crumbled without much resistant much to my surprise.

"Huh that that was easier than expected" as walked through the hole in the wall I just count help think that the dragon was not specifically going after me but it was just there to cause as much chaos as possible or it was a sign from Gilgamesh that he was getting bored hmm, either way, let's see where this leads me.

After walking up the steps for a few minutes the background began to switch from the old gothic castle to something more akin to a pub. When I finally reached the top of the staircase, all I saw was just an empty fancy pub with a chess table and few other games strewn around the room.

"Come take a seat mongrel, we have much to discuss."

I turned around to the area that voice came from and sure enough Gilgamesh was sitting at the chess table with a bored expression on his face.

Taking a seat at the table the table, I asked: " So how did I do?"

"Before we talk, how about a game of chess while we discuss the results?"

I nodded my head in confirmation and moved my pawn to e4 to start the match.

"After watching you handle the first four waves I will have to give you a B minus," Gilgamesh said while moving his pawn to c5.

"Any particular reason my lord why I earned a B minus?"

"You fight well for a mongrel, but your time management skills could use some perfecting as you easily took two hours to even deal with wave four before I grew bored enough to send a dragon to make it more interesting"

"I see…" inwardly I deflated a little but hey a b minus is till passing.

"...so if I may ask you, my king, what inspired you to have me play games to test me?" I said while moving my night to f3.

"Hmm, a strange question for you to ask mongrel, but I Gilgamesh shall delightfully answer. It started when I overheard you saying something about video games, I took it as an opportunity to survey my garden to see what has been developing in the last few decades and what I found to be mostly rubbish, but make for good inspiration for some challenges I could use."

"Okay then so I'm guessing this is the second game/challenge then?"

"How astute of you mongrel" he replied sarcastically.

I took it as a hint to shut up and began to focus on the game at hand. The board is mostly still full with only a pawn and a knight being traded evenly so far, but I have the feeling that he was going easy on me. If he wanted, he could go full cheat mode with Sha Nagba Imuru which would allow him to easily dispatch me as he would be able to make the correct move to counter every single move and strategy I can possibly think of to the point it would be more likely for me to beat stockfish 9 than to beat him.

As the game began to pick up, the time between each move began to shorten as if we were both playing a game of blitz. Such a pace could not be kept forever because mainly there came a point were my standard game plan began to unravel as focusing on attacking the f7 square and controlling the center became nearly impossible as Gilgamesh began to shift his focus to the other half the board where he has me in a tight position. If I move my knight to try and fork his bishop on c5 and his queen d6 it will lead to a possible shift in momentum but if this backfires on me a checkmate will happen soon after as he simply needs sacrifices his free rook and follows with queen to h2 then it would be game, on the other hand at this point I really messed this game by focusing my pieces on the offense while foregoing defense really got me this time and I really need move that will allow me to swing the tide toward my side. Having no other plan I moved my knight to e4.

While casually sipping his cup of wine, Gilgamesh countered my move by moving his queen to d5 protecting his bishop and threatening my unprotected knight. I moved my knight back to c3 which I immediately realized was a mistake as I should've moved my other knight and moved it to c3 instead as moving my night of e4 left g2 vulnerable and allowed the enemy queen access to the other side of the board. Well, I guess this is the end of the game as Gilgamesh moved his rook to h2 capturing a pawn with a followed up with my king. He ended the match with Queen to g2.

"Hmph, it seems like you improved your game mongrel, but you're still short-sighted and you still move without thinking sometimes like an impulse child playing with his first toys." He got up and began walking away, but before leaving he mentions "I give a 'C' for your efforts… the details for the next challenge underneath the table, do not disappoint me mongrel."

Well, let's see what I got to do next. Hopefully, it will be easy because I'm averaging a C+ so far which quite bad for a person used to score B+s and As. Well, whatever it is I have to be prepared mentally as physically because I have a feeling that it will not be as easy as I hope it would.


End file.
